The Dark Side of the Moon
by DC111
Summary: After Tails's death, Sonic finds himself in a constant struggle against not only Eggman's empire, but his own emotional turmoil. When he crosses paths with the mysteriously powerful Shadow, though, he realizes he may not have to fight either battle alone.
1. Ch 1: Conversation With the Atmosphere

I promised this by June 10th – here is _The Dark Side of the Moon_!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Sonic, he would have never said, "That Tornado is carrying a car!" in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. All characters belong to SEGA/Sonic Team.

**Author's note: **This'll be my only long author note until the end of the story, I promise. This story IS a sequel, but you shouldn't need to read my previous stuff to understand this (you can if you want, of course). Any references to past stories will be explained, so you'll be just as caught-up as all the people who've been reading the series for a while. I WILL recap past events better in this story than I have previously, to fill in all the I'm-confused gaps. M'kay?

There are so many different genres this falls under: action, adventure, friendship, tragedy, hurt/comfort, and maybe even drama and angst… but unfortunately, you can only pick two, so I had to go with action/adventure and friendship.

I think you'll find this story to be the most 'Sonic-y' out of all my stories. My others are Sonic-y, too, but this one has a lot of familiar elements. To be specific, it might have a Sonic Adventure 2 sort of atmosphere to it… though the storyline is different. You'll see what I mean. I can't say too much without spoiling it.

It's Sonic-y in one more respect, as well. By that, I mean that this story is largely (but not entirely, by any means) about Sonic himself. There'll be a lot of character development going on… and for the first time ever, you'll get a glimpse of how our ever-confident blue hero reacts to something tragic, something he's never been put through before. And in the midst of that, there's a huge threat slowly being uncovered…

**Finally, if anyone's interested in seeing a music video based on this **(don't worry, it won't spoil anything – it's just based on this first chapter) go to my profile and use the link at the top – it'll take you to my Youtube video.

Okay – now that I've tried (and _epically_ failed) to make the author notes as short as possible, let the adventure begin.

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PROLOGUE

They say friendship can survive anything.

But that can be interpreted in so many different ways, depending on how you look at it. Does _anything_ mean absolutely anything? Fights, disagreements, beliefs, distance…? Or should the word _survival _be taken a little more literally?

Can friendship survive death?

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CHAPTER 1: Conversations With the Atmosphere

I was sitting on top of a streetlight, arms folded and legs dangling, staring out at what used to be a city.

You wouldn't know it by looking at it now.

Only one word came to mind when I looked at the demolished buildings, the zombie-like minions, and the polluted skies: devastation. Sometimes, I couldn't even believe it was the same place it used to be. But it was. It had just changed.

I was cool with change. I was adaptable. But when you were stuck in a place like this with almost no hope of escaping, and when you were forced to watch it get rebuilt in the vision of your worst enemy, it was oppressing. And depressing. I'd never really resided anywhere for long, but Station Square had been the closest thing to a home I had.

I'd done everything in my power to find out how to fix things – or at least, that was what I tried to convince myself of. Tails would have wanted me to, and quite frankly, _I _wanted to. I was bored, and people were in danger. They were _still _in danger. The sad part was that I hadn't managed to accomplish anything in three months. That frustrated me to no end; not being able to do anything for anyone. But what could I do when an unbreakable barrier was keeping me from going anywhere beyond a forty-mile radius? It was powered by five Chaos Emeralds, so it wasn't like I could just break through it.

For a second, I wondered how Eggman had managed to find those five Emeralds so quickly. Then I remembered Tails and I had been unconscious for six months. I knew he must've gathered them while we were in that comatose state.

We had been unconscious because Eggman poisoned us both and then put us in a state of vegetation. We were left to die. By some miracle of nature, I woke up. When I got Tails out of Grand Metropolis, he woke up, too, with a little help. The next month of our lives had a race against time, trying to find a way to kill the poison before the poison killed us.

Naturally, when I realized there was only _one _antidote, I wanted Tails to take it. But Tails had already known there wouldn't be enough for both of us. In hindsight, I imagined he knew I would try to make him take it. Clever and smart as he was, though, he tricked me into thinking there was another antidote in the base that _he _could use.

I'd been suffering and was pretty weak at the time, so it didn't strike me as suspicious when he told me to drink it and then ran off. Of course he would want me to take the first one; I _was_the one on the verge of death.

I figured it out the hard way some time later. And by then, of course, we had run out of time. I survived; he didn't.

That was three months ago exactly. I had kept track, even though I never intended to.

I was okay now, though. Or at least closer to it. I knew I had to keep moving forward; there were too many bad things going on for me to wallow in misery. Eggman was still out there, the barrier was still up, and there were still people who needed help. In spite of everything that had happened, I couldn't turn away. The world needed me. I knew that.

But for the first few weeks after he… died… I had been in the worst state of my life.

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_I stood outside his workshop, just staring at it, trying to make myself believe that Tails would never again walk in there; trying to make myself believe that he was buried beneath the very ground I ran every day. It felt more like daydream than reality. I walked around the side of it and stood in front of the Tornado's garage. For a second – a split second – I saw Tails standing there, giving me a thumbs-up, telling me that when he opened the garage, I would see how awesome his new plane or whatever was._

_I was just so used to that kind of thing._

_Then it disappeared, leaving an aftereffect, a lot like when you look away from a bright light and yet still see it in front of you. Right there, I crashed to my knees and slammed my fists on the ground. I was overcome with despair… anguish… rage. I screamed, and my voice made it sound like I was experiencing some terrible physical agony. My breath came in rough, strained gasps. I actually had to _try _at it to be able to breathe right. _

_After a while, I was too worn. I collapsed on the pavement, winded. I stayed that way for hours. I didn't sob; I was never much of a crier. I just laid there, defeated, on the runway._

_For those few hours, everything Tails and I had ever done together rushed in and out of my head. All the experiences, all the adventures, all the memories. Every admiring smile he ever directed at me. Every brave move he ever made on my behalf. Every leisurely fly in the Tornado. Every moment of triumph we shared… that we would never again be able to share. It all seemed so far away now, almost like none of it ever even happened. It was all gone._

_Every painful experience, like the first time we transformed with the Super Emeralds together on the Death Egg all those years ago. Every delightful experience, like the time he tackled me to the ground in a hug while I was in my Super form because he was just so relieved to see me okay. I wished he was there to do that again._

_Everything he ever said to me, like the day we watched the sunset not long before he died: __"I guess… when you're days from possible death… you start thinking about your life, the good and the bad. And you start thinking about the people who matter to you, and you want them to know they matter to you." I wanted to be able to let him know he mattered to me, too. He had _already _known, but at that moment, I wanted to reiterate it over and over and over anyway. But he would never hear the words, no matter how many times I said them or how loudly I screamed. He would never hear the words._

_And there was the day he actually… passed. "Please don't leave. Don't leave me." He had wanted me there so he wouldn't have to die alone in his dark room. I had insisted on going to find another antidote; on making one last effort to keep the kid alive. I never found one. He died alone in his dark room. I wished I had stayed with him._

_Everything he ever did for me, like keep me above the water after that disastrous plane crash because I couldn't swim. I wished with a passion I could have swam for myself that day instead of putting him through all that hassle._

_Above all, though… I wished I could have gone back in time, made things different for him…_

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My daydream about that emotionally tormenting night came to an abrupt – and welcome – pause. Some sort of physical discomfort had snapped me out of it, and I realized as I drifted back to reality that it was beginning to rain. The water was cold and penetrating, soaking easily through my fur and onto my skin. It bothered me.

When had I become so vulnerable?

I sat there for another moment, letting myself get wet, and realized that I had just reflected on the past. I had just brought terrible emotions back to the surface without even meaning to.

And I had… regrets.

But I… had never dwelled on anything long enough to regret it before.

I shook my head, as if that was going to clear away the still-lingering ache; the sense of loss. It didn't. It still hurt. I sighed dismally and, after a moment, pushed myself off the streetlight and landed on the ground.

A run would feel good, even if I only had a few hundred square miles to work with.

I didn't even warm up… not that I usually did anyway. I just blasted forward, breaking the sound barrier in a matter of seconds. I imagined a speedometer reaching its maximum number and blowing up as I pushed myself faster, feeling the pressure of the wind against my body. My quills flew straight back behind me, and my eyes went dry. I blinked a few times.

I found myself near the edge of the barrier. I slowed down and ran the entire perimeter, avoiding getting too close since I really didn't want to be electrocuted at the moment. There were still only five Emeralds powering the barrier, I noticed. I wondered where the other two were.

I realized as I ran that I _had _figured one thing out over the past three months: I had discovered the actual _purpose_of that barrier. Eggman had created it… because he wanted an empire. He wanted power. He didn't want people to be able to go inside or outside certain boundaries. The barrier was there because he had slaves and minions – real _people _– that he didn't want to escape. The barrier was there to keep outside G.U.N. branches from getting to him and ending his reign. There was one G.U.N. base within the boundaries, but he had already taken it over and stolen all its robots.

It never should have taken me as long as it did to figure that out. Shouldn't it have been obvious? Eggman had always wanted to create his own dictatorship.

The barrier stretched from the Mystic Ruins to Central City and Station Square, covering all the areas around and in between: forests, canyons, the volcano Tails and I had found the antidote in, and Eggman's old Dome Base. There used to be a way out through an underground subway system, but Eggman took care of that when he expanded the boundaries.

Of course, he was the only one who could get in and out of the barrier.

And of course, I hadn't been able to find him in three months.

On the other hand, though, that was probably a good thing – for both him and me. After what happened, I didn't know what I would do to him if I saw him again too soon. I didn't _want _to know what I would do to him if I saw him too soon.

I'd never had much of a hero complex, and so I didn't have a need to be the 'good guy' every time. All I cared about was giving people the freedom they deserved, even if it meant turning against authority or whatever and playing the role of the 'bad guy.' But despite that, I wanted to think there was a certain level of low I wouldn't sink to. If Eggman showed up, I knew I'd be tempted to sink to it.

And revenge made you just as bad as the other guy, right?

I ran faster, weaving in and out of trees as a forest began to surround me. Even at my velocity, I recognized the area. Tails and I had raced here one day, just for kicks. It had been the same day he told me he would die for me if it ever came down to it.

I growled under my breath and looped back around. I didn't want to be in places like this, places that reminded me of Tails. Not yet. I didn't want any reason to… to look back.

The forest quickly disappeared behind me – where it belonged – and I soon found myself back in a city. I wasn't sure which city it used to be; there were several in the empire. It was a different one, though; not Station Square.

I skidded to a halt and looked around. Reconstruction had already started here, I saw; huge factories were being built upon the ruins of old buildings. Prisons were all over the place. And off in the distance was a colossal tower. Its path appeared to be a winding spiral to the top. I wondered what was up there.

Had this place just gone under construction recently, or had I just whizzed by too quickly in the past to notice? I wasn't sure. I sort of shrugged, and then headed towards the tower. Time to see what was going on.

I ran at what I considered a slow pace, looking around as I went. The place somehow looked like Central City, but if you hadn't been there as many times as I had, you wouldn't have recognized it.

_Things have really changed._

When I got to the tower, I realized it had been built where the airport used to be. Planes were scattered around with Eggman's logo on them – he had probably used the airport plane parts to redesign his own battle fleet. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Station Square had been destined to ruins a long time ago… but Central City, too? How had he done this so fast?

The tower was surrounded by a barb-wire fence. It was way too high to jump. If it was necessary, I knew I could climb it. It'd be rough to get over, but not impossible for me. Unless I had a reason to go in there, though, I wasn't going to bother getting myself hurt.

Through the fence, I noticed a sign above the entrance: Tempest City.

"What, not Egg-World or something?" I retorted aloud. My voice sounded strangely unusual to my ears, probably because I hadn't used it much lately. When there was nobody around to talk to, you really didn't bother talking to the atmosphere.

Nobody around to talk to. Again, that reminded me of Tails, but it also reminded me of a pressing problem: what had happened to all the residents of these cities? I wondered if some of them had gone into hiding, or fled before the barrier was expanded. Not all of them could have escaped, I knew, so that still didn't explain much. Had Eggman locked them away somewhere in the empire?

As I began to consider the possibilities, some sort of strong emotion pinched at my insides. It was… different, and it surprised me. Something unfamiliar, something _aside_ from loss and loneliness. It wasn't much of an improvement, though.

Guilt.

Since I hadn't wanted to see Eggman again too soon, I had been subconsciously avoiding him. And with no one else around to stop his plans, innocent people had been captured and maybe even harmed. If I had noticed, or realized… could I have stopped it?

It didn't matter now. What's done was done. All I could do was fix it.

I turned around, ready to run off again. There was no point in staying where I was. Nothing could be accomplished. The best course of action, I knew, was to find Eggman.

Just as I took the first step, I heard a sonic boom resonate from far away.

And then I heard myself gasp.

I looked to the sky. Nothing. That meant that something on the ground had caused it. My heart began to speed up. That didn't make sense. I was the only thing that could move at the speed of sound. Wasn't I?

I almost began to doubt my own ears, and then I heard it again. It was louder. Closer. I tensed, not out of fear, but out of readiness to fight. Something was going on; I could sense it. The close proximity wasn't a coincidence, and neither was the fact that it happened twice. Something had exceeded the speed of sound, slowed down, and then done it again. It had to have been deliberate.

My adrenaline was pumping. Was it one of Eggman's robots? Had he finally created something that could move as fast as I could? Or… was it something else?

The third time it happened, I knew whatever had caused it was less than half a mile away. There was no doubt at all now – it was looking for me.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far; tell me what you think in a review! Remember to go to my profile if you want the link to the Youtube video based on this. Also, for those of you who wanted to read my adaptation of Sonic and the Black Knight's ending, it's up! It's called _Hold On Tight_, so take a look if you feel like it. Okay, enough self-advertising. Ahem. Peace out, all! I appreciate your support! ;)

~DC


	2. Ch 2: Black and Blue

**This is up three days early in honor of a certain someone's birthday. I doubt you all mind **_**that, **_**though. ;) Enjoy.  
**

CHAPTER 2: Black and Blue

Sonic's eyes shined with intense readiness for the conflict that undoubtedly lied ahead. That glimmer, though, was missing the blithe mockery it had once contained. His arms, hanging at his sides, were unusually relaxed for someone who was a target for attack. That stance, though, wouldn't have been quite so careless if he had someone to fight _for_… like Tails.

Out of nowhere, something came at him, grasped him by the shoulders, and slammed him into a building that had been a hundred feet away previously. The sheer force of the impact cracked the concrete. Sonic couldn't scream; his breath was gone, lost somewhere in the rush of the attack.

About five seconds had passed since the last sonic boom.

The hedgehog's attacker allowed him no time to recover. As he stumbled forward, a single hand caught his chest and forced him back against the wall. Before he could react, the other hand was jammed aggressively below his chin, lifting his head up from its hanging position harshly. "Are you responsible for this trap?" A voice, smooth as silk but fiercer than lightning, demanded.

Even through the dizziness, Sonic knew he was talking about the barrier. He tried to say no, but he could only shape the word with his mouth.

"Tell me who you are."

Sonic managed to reach up and grab his foe's wrist, alleviating the pressure on his chin. He drew in a breath. As his ability to speak righted itself, so too did his vision… and upon seeing his attacker clearly, he went speechless again.

"Tell me who you are!"

Sonic's eyes widened. He was staring into his own face… only darker. Blacker. They were equal in height. Nearly all of their facial features had the same shape. But his irises – cold and fearless – were redder than blood. It was disturbing.

Acting on impulse, Sonic kicked him in the shin, jumped and dropped down behind him. His swift movements were graceful and poised despite the jarring attack that had taken place. But so, too, were his foe's: by the time he turned around, the dark figure had reacted and faced him.

Both hedgehogs went still in the moment's anticipation, waiting for the other to make a move. Sonic subconsciously relaxed his stance, seeing that his black lookalike had momentarily yielded, but his face was far less at ease.

"How… did Eggman clone me?" He asked, voice forcibly level. His eyes, barely concealing his shock and suspicion, moved up and down as he scanned the body of the hedgehog across from him. The black fur, the red stripes, the creepily blank expression… "You're… a fake."

The accused folded his arms. "Now why would anybody clone an individual so _weak_?" The black hedgehog paused after having voiced the offensive words, almost as if waiting for Sonic's reaction to them. Sonic, having quickly adapted to the whole confusing situation, returned his stare with no words, but with an air of calm ferocity that in itself spoke volumes.

Although disappointed with his blue rival's stubborn silence, the hedgehog continued: "I am no clone, blue mortal. I am Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform."

Sonic's face remained set, but his fists clenched. _Sure, that's what Eggman wants you to think._

"Well?" Shadow asked.

"What?" Sonic demanded, his temper beginning to grow short. His patience capacity, while never enormous, had been quite a bit more tolerant… when Tails was around. He'd tried to tell himself he didn't notice.

"Mortals are so irritating…" he muttered through an irritable sigh. "Again, I will repeat myself. _Who are you_, and why do you look like me?"

Shadow's temper was flaring right along with Sonic's own, and the clashing tension didn't go unnoticed by the blue hedgehog. Someone was going to make a move _very _soon… and he decided it would be him. He charged forward and leapt high in the air. "I know what I'm _not_… and that's weak!"

Shadow waited until the last second, then disappeared from thin air while Sonic drove through the space where he had been. With no resistance to catch his attack, he fell forward onto the ground, saving himself on his hands. He froze, stunned briefly, before attempting to get back up. Even that split-second hesitation was a mistake. Before he made it to his feet, Shadow reappeared and slammed a foot down on his back, stomping him into the ground. "You were saying?" He asked, pushing down almost effortlessly on Sonic's back.

"Ergh…" Sonic groaned, trying and failing to get out from underneath Shadow's surprisingly powerful foot. "What did you just do…?"

"Hah! You expect me to answer _your _questions when you flatly refuse to answer mine?" In one swift movement, Shadow leaned down, grabbed one of Sonic's arms, and pulled him up by it. His tight grip didn't falter for a second as he jerked it behind the blue hedgehog's back and twisted hard.

"_Agh…_" Sonic flinched in pain, his body reflexively attempting to turn in order to relieve the tension, but it was impossible. "Hey, take it easy…!"

"I want answers, now!"

"I know something's going on here, but we've never… even seen each other," Sonic said as levelly as he could, trying to talk his attacker down from his rage. It hadn't taken him long to realize he wasn't in the mood for violence. Later he would wonder if that was another side-effect of Tails's death.

"Shadow, what do you expect me to say to you?"

Refusing to yield, Shadow twisted Sonic's arm harder. The pressure threatened to dislocate his shoulder. He growled stubbornly under his breath, shifting his body in whatever minute way he could to alleviate the discomfort, refusing to crack despite his reluctance.

"Resisting me will only cause you more torment. You will tell me everything I want to know!"

He had to be working for Eggman – Sonic just knew it. He couldn't say anything… enough innocent people had already become victims due to his lack of action, and he couldn't just let it get worse.

"I am the Ultimate Lifeform," Shadow reminded. "It's a _favor_ to you that I warn you of my power ahead of time, you know."

"Hmph. Words won't bend me, faker!"

"Hm hm… but this will."

Shadow pushed upward on Sonic's elbow, forcing his arm in a direction it was never built to go. "AHHH! What's… the _matter_ with you!?" Sonic shouted incredulously, his voice strained. Doing the only thing he could think of, he dipped his head forward, then slammed it backwards into Shadow's as hard as he could. The black hedgehog screamed, more out of surprise than pain, and his grip loosened just slightly.

It wasn't as good as Sonic had hoped for, but it was enough. He pulled forward, causing his arm a surge of agony but ultimately giving himself enough room to spin dash. As fast as he could, he curled over on the ground and did just that, snapping his arm from Shadow's grip in the process. He sped away, going several hundred feet just in case Shadow was already chasing after him again, and then unrolled.

As soon as he was upright again, Shadow was right in front of him.

"No way…!" Sonic leapt in the air and back-flipped away. Before he could even land, Shadow teleported through the air and kicked him, sending him flying into the same building he'd been pinned against seconds ago. A spot of blood smeared the wall.

Experienced enough to know when his tactics weren't working, Sonic pulled himself up and _ran._

"Even _you _can't outrun me, hedgehog!" The darker of the two figures called, speeding after him.

"Watch me…!" Sonic challenged, voice daring – but again, it was missing the eager, lighthearted tone that had been there so many months ago, that had been there the _last _time he had fought. "Come on, Shadow, race me. Test yourself!"

For an instant, Shadow just stood there and let out a bored exhale. Then, drawing on the Chaos powers emitting from the barrier, he warped. A split second later, he was right next to the hedgehog, running alongside him.

Sonic hid his surprise well, grunting under his breath and accelerating into a nearby building, leaving Shadow behind him. By the time he dashed up the stairs and reached the top floor, his foe was up there waiting for him.

"Stop that teleporting thing," Sonic complained. "It's predictable and boring!"

Shadow ignored him. "I can kill you easily, you know. You should fear me."

Sonic folded his arms and smirked, more out of habit than anything. "Well, _that _doesn't do much for the 'predictable.' Just so you know, I've heard that about a hundred other times almost verbatim. Oh, and let me guess: now's the part where you say, 'I'm different than the rest,' right?"

"You babble when you're afraid," Shadow stated, returning the insulting smirk.

"Hah!" Sonic laughed loudly, sounding uncharacteristically snide even for him, as his grin widened. "Afraid? Don't you know who I am?"

"Oh, yes, of _course_," Shadow said, voice layered with acidic sarcasm. "That's exactly why I've _asked you your name half a dozen times._"

The blue hedgehog sighed in submission. "Fine, fine. The name's Sonic," he said anticlimactically. "And _you're _one of Eggman's robots. So go ahead and report to Doctor Eggman that you've found me, that way I can end this fast."

Confusion flitted across his face, then Shadow's eyebrows creased downward. He dropped his guard and walked toward Sonic, closing some but not all of the distance. Then he brought one arm behind him, scraped it along a quill on his back, and revealed the bleeding cut it created. Even stranger, there was absolutely no trace of pain on his face from the self-inflicted wound.

Sonic took an involuntary step back, somewhat uneasy, as Shadow asked, "Can robots do that?"

"…Oh."

Shadow abruptly vanished. Thinking fast, Sonic curled over and began to spin – just as his rival reappeared and aimed a kick at him. The black hedgehog's foot made contact with his sharp, rotating quills and he jerked backwards reflexively. Sonic stood up straight again.

"Predictable!" The blue hedgehog announced, raising his eyebrows. "Like I said."

Shadow was unfazed. "You saying that is becoming even _more _predictable."

Sonic switched to the offensive, charging at the other hedgehog. Shadow let it happen – for once – and the momentum from Sonic's attack carried them both toward the far window.

By the time they realized just what this meant, it was sort of too late.

They slammed into the window, crashing through it with so much force that the entire thing shattered. Horizontal movement quickly changed to vertical as they began to fall. The ground approached fast. Shadow tore himself from Sonic's grasp, grinned spitefully, and said, "Survive this, hotshot!" Then he was gone.

Their descent had started from two hundred feet up. Even as he fell, Sonic knew there was no way to absorb the shock of impact on his feet alone. Bracing himself, he shut his eyes tight and loosened the muscles in his legs. Time seemed to go in slow motion.

_This is gonna hurt._

His feet slammed against the ground with an amount of force so immense it would have shattered the bones of a normal person… but his extraordinary endurance wasn't _quite_ normal. He let his legs collapse beneath him, falling down onto his hands, and then rolled to a painful halt on his back. It all happened in under three seconds.

Shadow appeared above him. "And don't you dare get back up."

The words registered, but only just. Sonic opened his eyes to the clouded, narrow world before him. He could barely make out the red and black figure staring down at him. He blinked furiously; several seconds passed before the environment's features appeared sharp again.

Then, despite what Shadow had told him, he rebelliously forced himself off the ground. "Just because you're powerful… doesn't mean everyone else is weak. Don't underestimate me."

"You're a worthy opponent," Shadow said, glaring. "But—"

"Please don't say, 'But I'm afraid it's time to end this.' It gets so repetitive after a while."

"Oh, don't worry. The phrase you are about to hear is one I can assure you you've never heard before. Chaos… control!"

Before he could respond or react, Sonic was frozen to the spot. His limbs, his expression, everything… completely still. Shadow jumped up in the air and brutally kicked the petrified hedgehog in the head once… twice… _three _times. He stared at the frozen body for an instant before deactivating the time-pause, and then Sonic collapsed to the ground, face crunched in agony and disbelief.

As Shadow ran off, resuming whatever his previous business had been, Sonic's consciousness faded to black. The last thing he could remember thinking was: _If he can travel through space… can he travel through time, too?_

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Somewhere tens of miles away, the atmosphere was far more tranquil. Plants swayed carelessly in the wind. A field of trees covered almost the entire area – an island – only interrupted by the worn grey shrine in the middle of it all.

On that shrine, the atmosphere became just slightly _less_ tranquil as red eyelids snapped open to violet irises, looking around suspiciously.

There was nothing but the usual glow of the Master Emerald.

The owner of the indigo orbs pushed himself from his laying position and stood perfectly erect, staring out from the top of the shrine, looking for any sign of movement and listening for any sound. There was still nothing.

Knuckles groaned, a little frustrated. Even though he slept on cement, and even though it was only a very light sleep, he had never grown used to being woken up. The winks he could get were precious to him.

But still… he could've sworn something had made a sound.

_You're apparently not all that light of a sleeper after all, _a voice seemed to whisper. Knuckles didn't jump; that voice had stopped surprising him a long time ago.

_You made that sound, _he thought back, shooting a glare at the Emerald he so ardently protected.

The Master Emerald's mysteriously vocal conscience continued to communicate with Knuckles's thoughts. Its voice was neither pleasant nor angry, slow nor fast, male nor female. _Something has happened._

_That much is discernible._

_I have felt two foreign forces drawing on the energy of the Chaos Emeralds._

Knuckles cocked an eyebrow, although the expression was pointless. _Aside from the barrier?_

_Yes. One is a living being. He seems to be drawing on the negative energy._

_That wouldn't be Sonic, then._

_Doubtful. In the past, Sonic has always attracted the positive energy. This new Chaos user is someone I believe to be a threat to Sonic. At one time, I may have supposed it to be the malevolent scientist just because of the negativity associated with it. Now, however, I am familiar with the scientist's methods of usage and can safely say this is another individual. This potential threat also has the rare ability to use Chaos Control._

Knuckles shook his head. _Because we just need another problem thrown into the mix. But… hey, wait, how can he even harness Chaos energy when almost all the Emeralds are being used for the barrier?_

_It feels as though he can withdraw small amounts of that energy from the barrier. He must be experienced._

The echidna sighed in thought. _If we could do that… could we weaken the barrier?_

_No. The power rejuvenates itself faster than he can withdraw it._

_Huh. What's this other force, then?_

_I do not recognize it. All I can gather is that its power is phenomenal. Unlike the previous, it has the potential to be a fatal threat to much more than merely Sonic. In fact, I am led to believe… that life as the world knows it is greatly endangered._

_You have to stop it!_

_My positive energy is still restoring itself from when we used the Super Emeralds approximately ten months ago. I do not have enough of it to combat the negative forces currently._

Knuckles brought a hand to his temple. _Then… I have to go find Sonic. He's alone in there. There's no one to get his back anymore. And if something were to happen to him, our chances would grow even slimmer. God, I hate to admit that._

_I do not recommend the idea of leaving, Guardian._

_You would come with me, of course. I would keep you hidden._

_I gather that you are feeling strangely cocky._

_What?_

There was an instant of silence, as if the Master Emerald was waiting to see if Knuckles would 'get it.' _Think a moment. With the chaos ensuing further inside the barrier, could you really prevent my capture? You know very well that the malevolent doctor would not hesitate to take advantage of my power. Guardian – we must stay here at the shrine. Sonic is mentally and physically strong enough to endure the inevitable struggle alone for the time being._

The echidna digested the telepathic words… and found a broken link. _If that's so, then why are things still getting worse out there? Is he not doing anything about it?_

_Allow Sonic his respite. Miles's death has impacted him far worse than it has impacted you._

_But he'll come around?_

_It's not in my power to see the future, Guardian. You know that. I have, though, sensed his strong will in the past, when he has united with the Chaos Emeralds. As familiar with him as I am, I would venture to guess that…_

_He'll come around, _Knuckles finished the thought, answering his own question. Then, his tone – if something silent could have such a thing – became thoughtful. _Maybe he already has, for all we know. Maybe he just doesn't know where to start._ _If so… then you need to communicate with him; tell him the danger you sensed._

_That is currently impossible. The field of negative energy being created within the barrier prevents it. That is also why I cannot sense whether or not he has overcome his sorrow, and why I was unable to contact him while he was on his endeavor for the poison's cure. Even when he wasn't inside the barrier, _I _was, and that was enough to hinder the little power I had._

Knuckles turned around and placed his hands on the glowing gem harshly, his characteristic impatience sparking up. _You're the_ Master_ Emerald, though! You're supposed to be able to overpower any energy being created by the Chaos Emeralds, negative or otherwise._

_Again, I remind you: the Super Emerald incidents. Even though they only stayed in their advanced forms temporarily, it takes much longer for _my _energy to rejuvenate._

_There's no way to speed up the process, then? I need you back up to par._

_No. I need a little more time._

"Great," Knuckles said aloud. "Just great. Sonic will have to figure all this out on his own, then. And if he's not down in the dumps still, then he's racing around like usual. What if he can't slow down long enough to _think _and figure things out?"

_I trust Sonic is already aware that something is wrong._

"But you don't know."

_I do not. Either way, there is nothing we can do for him or anyone else right now. The safest course of action is to let things be until I am capable of granting you or Sonic the power you need to stop this unknown phenomenon…_

"…And put _everything_ in his hands until then."

**Chapter 2 author's note: So, Sonic and Shadow fought to the knockout, Sonic realized time travel was possible (hm… could that be significant?), and Knuckles discovered there is a powerful and mysterious threat on the way… in short, the plot is set to fly! Please review. Next update info will be up on my profile shortly. Thanks for reading, as always.  
**

**In the next chapter: Sonic is forced to come face to face with Tails's killer for the first time since the fox's death…**


	3. Ch 3: The Murderer

So recently, a reviewer told me that my plot is showing signs of being similar to another series on this site: 'To Say Goodbye' by Aiko-Chan SoT. Seeing as how Tails died in both Aiko's series and mine, there will be a few similarities. Remember, though, that they are both separate stories with separate backgrounds and separate futures.

With 15,000 Sonic fictions on this site, this kinda thing happens now and then. My notes for my plot are all typed up already, and there are some things that I really, _really_ love about it... and I'm not going to change it just because of something coincidental. Just wanted to give everybody a heads-up now.

With that aside, a few anonymous reviews to respond to here:

at pie: Heh, 'DC111 dark action,' I like that. Thanks for reviewing. Oh, and don't jump to conclusions. :P I don't think you'll consider it cliché by the end; some interesting shit is going to happen later on. In fact, it's the opposite: it might SEEM a little cliché in the beginning (I admit the whole 'epic dark threat' warning in chapter 2 was a little… yeah), but gets all plot-twisty near the end. I know you think time-travel is overdone too (everybody probably does, for that matter… heh) but I'll make it interesting, I swear.

Soniclover14: Glad you liked it. Yeah, I would think that Sonic would still try to be the cool guy he is, despite losing a friend and all that. I mean, he's got that whole 'no regrets' attitude going for him in the games… and if I follow anything, it's his Sega-Sonic personality. Thanks for reviewing!

This chapter answers quite a few questions about events that happened in Faster Than You Think and Beyond the Chaos. Things should be explained pretty well for those of you who haven't read those, but if you don't get it, just ask.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 3: The Murderer

A swollen bruise disfigured Sonic's normally smooth forehead, the bump pushing down on one of his closed eyelids. He wasn't yet awake to feel the pulsing ache it caused.

Though that bump was the most noticeable of his injuries, it was far from the only. His entire body, usually blue, was mixed with spots of deep red… and the arm that had been twisted remained in a slightly off position. He had been through worse, of course, but not in a while. Not in a while.

And as soon as those bloodshot eyes opened, Sonic wished with a passion that he could remain unconscious for a little while longer. Fragments of his fight with Shadow were gradually floating to his consciousness, leaving most of the event a gray blur, but he didn't care right then. He wanted the throbbing to subside.

Moments passed slowly as he laid there in intense physical pain, the sensation feeling surprisingly foreign to him. He wasn't used to it anymore, wasn't used to the consequences of battle… It had been such a long time since he had fought.

He closed his eyes again, wondering if sleep would take him as easily as it had before. A groan escaped his lips, coming out a lot quieter and weaker than he'd expected it to. He threw an arm over his face, or tried to; a surge of pain shot through it like lightning before he could get it that far. If he had been straddling the wall between consciousness and unconsciousness before, the agony in his arm had certainly thrown him over to the conscious side now. He quickly remembered the cause of it: Shadow had twisted that arm almost to the point of breaking during their fight.

Raising the injured limb slowly to his field of vision with his other hand, he examined its somewhat unusual shape and began to move it around experimentally. It hurt a lot, especially near his shoulder. He let it fall back to the ground and winced when it landed.

"Nothing new," he heard himself mutter, feeling one corner of his mouth lift up just slightly in a grim smirk. He sat up carefully and then placed his hand back on his arm, near the top. Then, knowing well enough that being gentle would be like trying to tear off a band-aid slowly, he jerked it outward as hard as he could and then gave it an aggressive push, forcing it back where it belonged. There was a loud snap as it set back in place… and a louder cry. Without consciously deciding to, he collapsed back on the ground, his breathing suddenly heavy. Relocating a messed up bone hadn't been quite _that _excruciating in the past, had it?

Sonic laid where he was for several more minutes, trying to organize his thoughts and remember what he was supposed to be doing. His eyelids began to droop. He half-consciously noticed he was sinking below the surface again and was relieved, even though he knew falling asleep with injuries wasn't a smart idea. There was no further threat to him or to anyone around him as far as he knew – as if there was anyone around him to threaten – so it was okay to rest. He would be more productive when he could function, anyway… another hour's sleep would be okay…

Just as he almost fell back into that peaceful escape, a rough, malevolent voice that was all too familiar brought back his pain… in more ways than one.

"Ah, Sonic, we meet again," said that sadistic, harsh voice. Everything within Sonic flared up in rage and again, he was on the conscious side of life. All the memories of Tails's death that he had suppressed came flooding back in less than an instant, and though there was only blackness behind his eyes, he could see the memories vividly in his mind. "My, my, my – I didn't think you'd let my minions beat you up so badly! Oh – oh wait. You didn't _let _them, did you?"

Sonic snarled under his breath as Eggman finished his rhetorical question, and his eyes slid open. Upon seeing that obese body, those dark sunglasses, that insanely long mustache… he wanted to scream in disgust. He wanted to get up and run away and never, _ever_ see that face again… for as long as he lived and far beyond.

What he said next, almost too quiet to hear, was "Eggman," the single word coated in resentment. What he heard in his own mind as he spoke it, though, was: _Tails's murderer._

In a matter of seconds, Sonic had gone from half-conscious to more awake and expressive than he'd been since the night of his mental breakdown at the workshop three months ago. Under vastly different circumstances, he might have laughed at the irony. But these were not laughing circumstances.

As the alertness had returned to him, so too had the infinite sadness that he'd attempted to bury in the past. "Go away," Sonic whispered, and his voice didn't sound anything like his own.

Eggman laughed at the demand. "I must ask… are you in any position to be ordering me around?"

"Go away, or we'll both regret it…" Sonic said so quietly Eggman had to come closer to hear. Sonic flinched as his hovercraft's shadow came within inches of him. He didn't want Eggman near him. It was still too soon.

A voice in the back of his head – not the Master Emerald, but his own conscience – told him that he couldn't evade forever. Even if he did end up _sinking to that level_… wasn't that still better than running away and letting Eggman do whatever he wanted with everyone and everything?

"Hm… Sonic… correct me if I'm mistaken, but was that a _threat _I just heard?"

"Statement of fact," Sonic muttered, because it was true. Suddenly, he had a glimpse in his mind's eye of what he must look like to Eggman: hurt, defeated, desperate, _fearful…_ not even mentally stable enough to make eye contact…

_What's happened to me?_

Sonic drew in a breath and let it out. Even given everything that had happened, even given that Sonic had never felt so defeated and emotionally torn in his entire life… he suddenly realized he didn't want to be this weak any longer. If he took things… _slowly_, for a change… he could work his way back up enough to see himself as the legend he had once been... and he could have that kind of eagerness and willingness again, eventually. Couldn't he?

_The journey of a thousand miles begins with…_

Sonic allowed his eyes to drift away from the shadow of Eggman's hovercraft. Locking a self-assured façade over his features, he looked up at his enemy – Tails's murderer – and made eye contact. It burned.

"Oh my, you are struggling, aren't you? I admit, Sonic, I do respect the length of time you have gone without faltering in the past. However… it brings me great joy to see you in this vulnerable, broken position you are now in."

The words made his blood boil, even though he had realized their truth in his own mind several moments before Eggman spoke them. Sonic pushed himself onto one knee, leaning the hand of his good arm on the ground for support. He held his breath in the process; getting that far hurt like hell, and he didn't want to let himself make noise about it in front of Eggman. His eyes never left the maniac as he said, "I'm not broken."

"Sure you're not. That's why you've been too afraid to seek me out the last several months."

They glared at each other. The very space between them seemed to spark; it was like there were bolts of electricity clashing as tensions rose…

"That was for your own good," Sonic said, justifying himself. "If I were you… I'd be thanking me."

"You're not afraid of killing me," Eggman said in a low voice, effectively countering Sonic's rationalization. "You _want _me dead. It's that _desire_ you're afraid of. You fear nothing more than yourself."

Sonic looked away for a split second, almost as if in shame, but looked back up before Eggman could notice his eyes had left. "Why do my reasons matter… The point is, if it weren't for my choice, you'd be six feet _under _the ground instead of floating six feet above it!"

"Ouch, is someone PMSing today?"

Anger won out, and Sonic lunged. His feet barely left the ground when he tumbled back down on his face. The bump on his head banged against the hardened dirt.

It hadn't been worth the attempt.

"Oh boy, I could watch you repeat _that _all day!" Eggman exclaimed, his face brightening with real humor as he watched the hedgehog struggle on the ground against his own agony. "Come on, hero! Attack me! Put a stop to this evil!"

"AAAAGGHH!" Sonic pushed off the ground with both legs and his good arm, jumping up for Eggman's machine. He made it out of sheer determination – determination to _fix _what he had allowed to happen – grabbing onto the edge of the hovercraft and beginning to pull himself up. But with only one arm, he couldn't even get himself high enough to see Eggman's face.

Much less _reach _the bastard.

The smug scientist didn't even flinch; he no longer saw Sonic as a real threat. "Come on, hedgehog!" He commanded, his voice a challenging growl. His teeth shined in the sunlight as he smiled. "Use the other arm! Get up here and _put me in my place_!"

"_I will this time!_" Sonic snapped, and his voice was devoid of enjoyment or cockiness at the challenge. All that was there was anger and guilt. He raised his relocated arm and grasped the edge of the floating robot, kicking the air beneath him in a desperate attempt to get up there. He heard himself scream… and scream. He didn't even know why he was screaming. Did his bad shoulder hurt? Was it just the effort? Was it the emotions he couldn't leave in the past any longer…?

Eggman spun his vehicle around once in the air, and then jerked it, separating it from Sonic's grasp. The hedgehog hit the ground, not even realizing what had happened soon enough to land on his feet.

"If you were this pathetic when you were fighting my minions, then I suppose I _shouldn't _be surprised after all that it ended this badly for you."

Sonic rolled over on his front and pushed himself up enough to glare at Eggman. "I knew it! You mentioned your minions earlier, too… That black hedgehog is…"

"Hold up… black hedgehog?" Eggman asked, and genuine confusion began to sneak into his arrogant expression. "What are you talking about?"

"You…you had him come after me."

There was a moment of mutual puzzlement. Eggman put the pieces together faster. He smiled suddenly and said, "Oh. Oh, no. If I had a role in this Sonic, I assure you it would have been worse."

Sonic coughed. Dots of blood decorated the otherwise plain and colorless ground beneath him. He didn't say the obvious: 'As far as you knew a few seconds ago, you _did _have a role in this.' The retort didn't even occur to him. Instead, in a lifeless voice, he asked, "Haven't you done enough already?"

For a long time, the only sound in the air was… just that. Air. The empty silence of a gloomy, awkward atmosphere. The two enemies both stared, gauging each other's expressions, and Sonic realized that Eggman now hardly had one. His face was blank and emotionless.

"Poisoning him was an accident."

"…What?"

The doctor sighed in reluctance, hating having to admit any fault. "My robots were the ones who hooked you two up to the IVs, not me personally, and they made a mistake with Tails. I had him knocked out on purpose so that we could capture him and lock him away without difficulty, and I did have him injected with a fluid that would keep him comatose so that he wouldn't escape. To that much, I will admit. However, I never planned to kill him."

Sonic scrutinized Eggman's empty, unreadable face. He let the doctor's raw admission sink in, searching for truth in his words. He cleared his throat of excess blood and phlegm before inhaling a long breath. "Never wanted him dead? Yeah… that's why you created that robot Zorro in the first place… right? He… he nearly killed Tails more than once! Did you know that?"

The fight against Zorro had taken place almost a year ago now, before they were even poisoned, but Sonic didn't care. He wanted to make his point.

"He nearly killed you, too, if I recall," Eggman pointed out. Sonic knew the doctor was talking about the day he had been stabbed. The memory seemed so far away. He wished he could have that day back, despite the horror that had taken place… _anything_ would be better than today…

"That's proof right there," Eggman continued, "that I never targeted that brat any more than I targeted you. Besides, I never created Zorro to _kill_ either of you, despite how much you seem to want to convince yourself otherwise. I created him to capture you two so I could lock you both away in Grand Metropolis and poison _you_… like I eventually did. The Super Emeralds, however, gave him a rebellious and brutal personality – which was what drove him to try and kill you before all that.

"Anyway, I believe our conversation has gone astray; let me continue my explanation. After poisoning you both, I created an antidote in anticipation that you would find it and make Tails take it. That's why there were so many hints in the volcano, like that directory. I _wanted _it to be found. But at the same time, I couldn't make it too easy, or you would think it was a trap. Not to mention, it wouldn't be amusing at all for me. You see?"

His physical discomfort and emotional distress made speech a work a labor, but again, Sonic gathered a breath to accomplish just that. "Too bad," he said hoarsely, his voice dripping with venom, "things didn't work out your way. You must be _so _disappointed."

The sarcasm didn't go unnoticed by Eggman. "You think I would have chosen for it to be this way?"

Sonic shook his head in disbelief and confusion. "Look… if you really wanted me dead… why didn't you just kill me when you had the opportunity? You keep saying how much you hate me, and yet you never took any of those chances… when you could have…" Sonic trailed off as he finished the sentence; there was hypocrisy in his own words and he knew it. Eggman could very well ask him the same question. He hoped he didn't.

The doctor's features became menacingly twisted by an evil grin. He didn't say what Sonic had expected him to, though. He said something that, in many ways, was worse.

"…Where would the fun in that be? Don't you see by now that the source of my enjoyment isn't _only _the idea of killing you? Hah hah, of course not! It's watching you, the national _hero_" – Eggman spat the word out after coating it in mocking scorn – "suffer… and hurt… and drive your physical and emotional limits to _insanity_! I don't want to kill you on the spot, Sonic! It's too easy, for you and for me! _First_, Sonic, I want to make your life as miserable as _you have made mine since the day I met you!!_"

As sweat dripped down the doctor's beat-red face, his words echoed in the atmosphere.

Sonic couldn't speak. For the first time, Eggman had revealed how true his hate really was. All these years, Sonic had thought it was all just a game… but behind that humor… behind that comical-maniac façade… there was a _real _maniac – a sadist – that had been waiting impatiently to break through.

When Eggman spoke again, he picked up the topic of conversation they had been discussing before the tangent, but his voice didn't lower in volume. "I expected you'd make Tails drink that liquid, wanting to protect him, seeing as how you're the 'older brother!' I guess I was wrong. He lied to save you, knowing he was going to die." Sonic had no idea how Eggman knew about that. "I guess the little _mutant_ was stronger than…"

"Hey, _watch _your mouth!" Sonic spat, hardly believing Eggman had dared to use that word. Again, he pushed against the ground, but his attempts to get up were in vain.

Eggman looked down at Sonic, saw the pain in his eyes, and laughed. His thick mustache rose with his smile. "You're pathetic," he said gleefully. And then, without warning or rationale, the hovercraft was gone, leaving a thin trail of smoke in its wake.

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Oh, harsh. Thanks for reading; please review. See you next time!


	4. Ch 4: Looking Back, Moving Forward

**Relatively short chapter here, despite the delay. I wasn't being lazy; this chapter has actually been finished for a while. Truthfully, I forgot about updating. Ah well, happens. The good news (if you like longer chapters, anyway) is that this _should_ be the only chapter in the story that's less than 2500 words.  
**

**Thanks to everyone who's read so far – and especially to those who have reviewed. I really do appreciate it when people take a minute or two to leave comments.**

**Enjoy.**

**[sonamy lover 111: Hey there. Thanks once more for all your comments! I'm so glad that you have enjoyed my stories so far. Thanks very much for letting me know what you think the whole way through. Oh, you have a friend who has read this? In any case, I am glad that you've decided to read it. You're not the only one who almost stopped reading after Faster Than You Think for the same reason. But I think (and hope) that you will be happy you read it! :) Enjoy.]  
**

CHAPTER 4: Looking Back; Moving Forward

When Sonic woke up, he half expected to open his eyes to a boring, cramped hospital room and an IV needle delivering much-needed fluids to his system. After his experiences with Shadow and Eggman… after all the injuries he had sustained… surely someone would have wandered by and been concerned enough to call 911, as much as he hated the idea.

But when he opened his eyes to the sunlight of the outside world, finding himself exactly where he'd been left, he remembered that everyone was gone and that the nearest hospital was most likely obliterated and undergoing reconstruction by Eggman's minions.

Sonic blinked some moisture over his eyes and carefully sat up. Things still ached, but not as if the injuries had happened recently. He realized that he must have been asleep for a long time – probably days. He tried to pinpoint the time when he had crashed again. He couldn't remember.

The bump on his head was no longer painful to the touch. The arm he'd had to relocate was still tender – but functional. Scrapes had turned to scabs, and some had nearly disappeared. He had _certainly _been asleep for days.

The sky above was surprisingly clear as the hedgehog looked up at it. The fight had carried him far from the main part of the empire – farther than he'd been lately – and the smog was less where he was now. There was also a bit of grass scattered around, a detail he'd been too occupied to notice before despite how many times his face had been within inches of it.

He stood and began to walk. The motion felt strange to him, walking at the pace of a normal human being… but he was still waking up and his legs were still recovering from the impact of falling off the building.

The whole encounter with Eggman… had it actually happened? Sonic remembered passing out after losing his fight with Shadow. But had he actually been woken up before now, or had that part just been a dream? A nightmare, perhaps… inspired by his fear of murdering Eggman the same way Eggman had murdered Tails…?

_It had to have been a dream. He never hated me enough to say what he said. That crazy, sadistic look in his eyes… like he wanted to torture me or something…_

He hadn't taken five steps before his eye caught something red. He looked down at it. It was blood. He had a brief urge to look around and see if someone or something had gotten hurt. Then it struck him: it was his own. He had coughed it up after trying to attack Eggman…

…which meant it was all, in fact, real.

"Tough," he muttered to himself, his voice so quiet it almost blended in with the wind. He had known that anyway… or it would have occurred to him sooner or later if he hadn't. It had been there somewhere in his mind.

The hedgehog continued walking pointlessly, having no idea where he was walking to. He wondered: what should be his next objective at this point? There was Eggman, he knew. He had to plan on confronting him again eventually, or on fighting him if confronted. But until he knew of a way to stop the construction of the empire, there was no point. As had been proven to him, his fighting skills were too rusty – and he was too weak from his encounter with Shadow – to beat the doctor's crazy machines so soon…

There was the barrier. But again, what could he do about it now? He had to find out more about it first, which meant a dangerous journey to the heart of the empire or to… wherever the thing was being managed from. He didn't even have a place to start from yet. Perhaps he could trying following one of Eggman's minions around and seeing if it lead to any place of interest. Perhaps some sneaking could get him closer to discovering the barrier's secrets…

But even then, without Tails, could he figure out how to disable it?

_Aww. No tech buddy anymore…_

Finally, there was Shadow. Even if he wasn't associated with the empire, he was definitely up to _something. _Sonic had a strange feeling he would be back. Maybe _that _was the route to go at the moment since all the others had so many prerequisites. He could try to talk to Shadow again, and maybe figure out what was up with the whole warping thing…

The warping thing.

The thought of Shadow's strange ability triggered another memory in Sonic's mind, a brief notion he'd had during that fight: Could he warp time, too? If the answer was yes, he realized, then there was something very significant about that idea…

Sonic shook his head. Getting his hopes up at this point was like clinging to a rope that was about to break.

Still… finding Shadow was his best option.

His decision made (less spontaneously than it would have been made before, the hedgehog noticed with discontent), Sonic accelerated to a jog. He still didn't know where he was going, but now, at least, he knew what to look for.

Only when he began to actually do just that did he notice where he was. That green grass, those clear skies, the rock caves, the clusters of trees… he was in the Mystic Ruins. He was in the very place Tails had taken his last breath. It was the first time in three months.

Slowly, almost mechanically, Sonic turned his head to the left. Just as he had known it would be, Tails's small home was resting atop the plateau, receiving the full heat of the afternoon sun.

Sonic didn't run away.

"Wow," the hedgehog breathed after a moment, hardly believing how long it had been. The sight was serene and beautiful; the top of the house appeared to touch the bottom of the vibrant, white sun from the angle Sonic was standing at. If he just took it in for what it was, and not what it _had_ been… it was a sight worth remembering.

He dared to walk towards it. As he made his way up the hill, the sun appeared to gradually slide below the top of the house. When it was hidden completely, no longer blinding him, he could make out the minute details of the house – the kinds of little details you only remembered existed when they were there in front of you.

It was only when Sonic made it to the top of the hill and placed his hand on the doorknob that he felt uncertain. What would it be like, walking in the once-home of a former best friend, now so forlornly vacant?

Not former. Tails still _was _his best friend – and his little brother – no matter what.

When he finally twisted the knob and let himself in, the home wasn't quite as deserted as he had expected it to be. He found himself being greeted; not by a friendly two-tailed fox with thick golden fur, but by hundreds of memory fragments… experiences that had taken place under the very roof he was under.

The one that stood out the most, probably because it was the most recent, was of the last time he and Tails had been in the workshop together. He remembered clearly that their exchange of words had been only minutes before they left for the volcano, for the antidote…

_"I'm… just trying to figure out why none of this seems to bother you, that's all," Tails said in reference to Sonic's apparent nonchalance. "I wondered if maybe… you thought this was all a trick of Eggman's. Because that would explain everything."_

_Concerned at the amount of thought Tails was putting into this, Sonic gave him a look. "Stop worrying so much; we still have some time," he promised, still unfazed by their predicament. "None of this is worth worrying about right now."_

_And Tails's voice _wasn't _worried when he spoke next – it was downright hopeless. "Then what _is_ worth worrying about?"_

_Sonic gave a pleasant laugh. "If you figure out the answer to that, let me know."_

The irony.

Sonic was also greeted by a pen that was laying on the floor in front of him. It caught his gaze before his mind could venture too far into the realm of the past.

Still composed – and somewhat surprised by aforementioned state – he bent down to pick it up. He took it gently between his forefinger and thumb and just gazed at it. It was the pen, Sonic realized, that Tails had used to write the brief note he had found right before realizing the fox was dead. That pen had written the last words Tails had ever said to Sonic... and to _anyone._

Sonic did not bring his other hand to his mouth and start weeping histrionically like he was on a clichéd soap opera. Instead, he unceremoniously dropped the writing utensil, letting it hit the ground with a soft clink. It didn't mean anything now; it was just a pen. Excessive mental drama was unnecessary. But still, the thing had reminded him of that note, so he took the piece of paper out and began to read. A few sentences in particular caught his eye.

_…Life moves as fast as you do…  
_

As his eyes skimmed over the words, Sonic chuckled once. "Might be the one thing that moves fast_er_ than I do," he muttered to himself. "But just that one thing."

…_make the best of your time…_

Sonic's eyebrows raised as green irises hovered over that request. Had he fulfilled it so far? Had he even attempted to? The fox's wish was for his happiness… wasn't that why he had even bothered to save his life in the first place?

He made himself smile, made himself listen to Tails for that moment… and it actually didn't feel too bad. As he reread the request, admittedly cliché but of no less value than any other request because of it, Sonic realized he had to cheer up. He couldn't let Tails's sacrifice end up… _wasted._

_…It was my dream to see you float in the water by yourself…_

The hedgehog's expression didn't falter in the slightest as he remembered the vow he had made after first reading those words; instead, it intensified, his partially real happiness blending with… a sense of accomplishment.

The world suddenly felt a lot less lonely. His friendship – his brotherhood – with Tails suddenly felt very much existent and alive.

Before Sonic could get too deeply immersed in his joy, though, a fast, direct gust of wind blew outside, slamming the front door shut. And, knowing exactly what – or more precisely, _who_ – had caused it, the hedgehog remembered he had places to go… and definitely people to meet.

Tucking the note away and pushing open the door, Sonic stepped out into daylight again, his features suggesting an air of confident ferocity that had not been present when he first entered the workshop. He took one last look at the place behind him, yearning to stay for some reason but knowing he had to bring his visit to an abrupt end. Without further hesitation, he turned in the direction of the wind and bolted away. There were lives in jeopardy… there was a legacy to restore… and, dare he even think it, there was a certain fox to whom he wanted to grant a privilege. A privilege to _see _his wishes fulfilled.

_It's time to let the world – including my little bro – see that I'm still here. And I'm still running._


	5. Ch 5: Back for More

**The title of this chapter is a very subtle reference to a certain song in the Sonic franchise. The reviewer who gets it right wins a virtual cookie. ;)  
**

CHAPTER 5: Back for More

Following the direction of the gust of wind Shadow had so obviously caused, it didn't take Sonic all that long to find the so-called Ultimate Lifeform. The trail of kicked up dirt running parallel to it hadn't hurt, either; in fact, it made the task almost too easy. Race through a cave here, dodge a tree there…

The hard part, now that he had found who he was looking for, was deciding how to handle the situation he was about to create.

As he hid behind one of the many ruins, his breathing forcibly quiet as he spied on Shadow, he knew he only had seconds before the black hedgehog ran off again… or spotted him. It would be one or the other. That was how it always worked, even for the optimists. The fact that the ruin hid _him _but not his shadow made this scenario even more likely.

It appeared that the darker hedgehog had stopped as if in decision. His head was raised high, looking around in different directions, and something about him seemed… deliberate. Like he had an objective. Sonic wondered what it was.

Remaining still and silent behind the ruin, the hedgehog considered briefly. There were only two options, really: attempt a conversation or pick a fight. The former, he remembered, had already failed once. He had already seen that Shadow would compromise for no one… much like himself, but in a different manner. But if he took Shadow by surprise, if he could somehow get in a position to trap him... maybe he wouldn't be so resolute.

Besides, attacking Shadow the same way he himself had been attacked would be far more fun, if only to see the look on his face.

_Yeah. Totally worth it, any day of the week._

Personal entertainment and thoughts of time-travel serving as his two primary motivators, Sonic sprung up on top of the ruin he'd been behind and pushed off the front of it, curling up in a tight ball and spinning through the air as fast as he could.

To his pleasure, Shadow turned around just in time to receive a face full of quills.

"Hah!" Sonic laughed aloud, unable to help feeling satisfied. Finally, he had landed something effective! He unrolled himself and slammed both feet on the ground, then bent his knees and launched himself upward again, having no idea what he was doing but knowing it was better than being still. Making split-second decisions like he used to as he soared through the air – and damn happy about it – he grabbed onto the branch of a nearby tree, swung himself over it, and again dove right at Shadow.

Only a second had passed, and the black hedgehog had not yet recovered from the unexpected blast… or the sense of surprise that had come with it. He was wide open, and Sonic wasn't about to discard that opportunity. Still spinning, he hit the ground like a plane coming in for a landing and charged at Shadow's bottom half, taking his legs out from underneath him.

The Ultimate Lifeform landed on his back hard, his breath leaving him audibly. By the time he drew in more air, Sonic was above him, the toes of his shoes digging into his knees and his arms pinning the black hedgehog's hands against his chest.

"Huh," Sonic began, getting in Shadow's face and grinning a very cocky grin. "You know, Shads, I honestly thought you'd recover faster after that first blow. I overrated you, Shads. You're overrated!"

"Get the hell away from me."

"Hey, _easy _now. As far as I remember, you're the one who started all this. Am I right? I'm just picking up where we left off!"

"As far as _I _remember, we didn't leave off anywhere. I nearly killed you, and that was the end of it," Shadow said curtly, lividly. "Now get off."

"Make me!"

Almost simultaneously with Sonic's answer, Shadow jerked his arm from underneath the blue hedgehog's hand and hammered him in the chest. The sheer force of the punch sent the hedgehog flying, and by the time he impacted the ground again, Shadow was on his feet.

Sonic rolled over and pushed himself up, unfazed and unharmed – or at least appearing unfazed and unharmed. Neither of them made a move, and neither hedgehog's eyes left the other. Shadow yanked a thin, blue quill out of his cheek, not even wincing as he did so, and dropped it to the ground.

"I wanted that back," Sonic said lightheartedly, and somewhere in his mind he wondered if Tails would've laughed at the comment. Though it was still somewhat painful, the thought of his friend didn't bother him quite as much as it had before, and he realized his visit to the workshop had made something inside him abruptly shift in perspective. Or perhaps it was Tails himself that had made him change, his words in the note serving as a gentle reminder…

Shadow chose to ignore his rival's odd sense of humor. "Do you think you can bring real harm to me?" he asked, completely oblivious to the realization going on behind Sonic's vibrant jade eyes. Chest stuck out, he walked forward with excessive arrogance, face twisted into a dark glare. Sonic refocused and stood his ground, calmly letting Shadow advance and actually leaning forward a little to let the life-form know that he wasn't intimidated. The distance between them was quickly minimized to mere yards.

As he answered the darker hedgehog's question, Sonic's voice was steadied and firm, but the smile never left his expression. "I wasn't _trying _to injure you," he said. "I was just letting you know that I can."

"Were you, now?" Shadow's eyes narrowed as he whispered the words and a smirk crept onto his dark features, mixing with the glare. It wasn't a playful smile like Sonic's; it was anything but. "_Try_ then, this time. I would just _love_ to see."

At Shadow's last sentence, Sonic faked a flattered blush. "Aww. Only because you asked me to, Shads." Then, taking an approach that was deliberately obvious and direct, he raced forward and made to attack.

Shadow almost laughed at Sonic's maneuver as he closed in. Nevertheless, he prepared to meet the attack, bending his knees. Sonic saw the adjustment, minute though it was, and ducked as he ran. Shadow jumped and swung his right foot out swiftly and brutally, dealing an attack that would surely knock Sonic out again… but his foot hit nothing but the air.

As gravity jerked Shadow back down, Sonic stopped right behind the area where the black hedgehog had been standing and elbowed him in the back as he landed. He fell forward on the ground.

"Ha! Three strikes and you're out!" Sonic proclaimed triumphantly, whirring around to see what great advantages that last strike had given him. Long before he made it to 90 degrees, a hand grasped his ankle and took him harshly to the ground. His face slammed into the dirt, nose crunching and mouth filling with dry grass.

Again.

"Did I recover fast enough for you that time?" Shadow asked cynically, pinning Sonic's body with his own as the blue hedgehog rolled over. His voice was unnervingly calm, as if holding the blue hedgehog back took him no effort at all. Maybe it didn't. "You are such an annoyance. I'm beginning to wish I hadn't confronted you in the first place."

"Hah hah, yeah, I wouldn't want to have to fight me either!" Sonic said, intentionally taking Shadow's comment the wrong way. "I'm a tough cookie to beat, huh?" He winked at the hedgehog above him, not appearing the least bit worried about his current predicament.

The Ultimate Lifeform drew a hand back and punched hard. Sonic turned his head sideways, letting the blow glance off his cheek. It hurt, but it could have been far worse – he knew that from experience. As the black hedgehog prepared to hit again, Sonic realized that he had somehow worked his left arm free, and raised it up to block.

Their arms smacked together, and in that brief instant of safety, several things occurred to Sonic in a string of thought.

One: he was using his only free limb to block Shadow's punch. What could he do with no other free limbs?

Two: Shadow was fast, and he was going to find some way to render that arm useless if he didn't get it out of the way in the next half-second.

Three: he had a head, including a mouth, that was still free to move.

And before that half-second ran out, Sonic grabbed Shadow's arm, pulled it towards his own face, and bit down on the flesh.

Blood ran between his teeth, and he found himself surprised at his own… er… jaw strength…? Meanwhile, Shadow howled in genuine pain – apparently a rare sensation for him – and pulled back. Sonic used the opportunity to scramble away and get to his feet, spitting out blood with a revolted expression on his face. He hadn't meant to bite _that _hard.

"For the record, Sonic," Shadow began, silky voice adopting an unmistakably pissed-off undertone, "we're not siblings just because we look similar! You don't just come and wrestle with me whenever you damn well feel like it."

The addressed looked at him and put a hand on his hip. "One rule for you and another for me, eh?"

Shadow scowled, no longer even appearing to notice the bleeding, crescent-shaped wound on his forearm. "I attacked you for a _reason_ that day, and you know well and good what it was."

Sonic folded his arms. "Enlighten me."

"Please. You're part of this mess. You're part of the reason I'm trapped in this polluted hell-hole!"

Sonic raised his eyebrows, about to ask just how Shadow would know that, and then it hit him. Just like he himself had been suspicious of the black hedgehog due to his appearance, Shadow too was suspicious. The only difference was that Shadow was an attack-first sort.

"So…" Sonic began thoughtfully, "What if I said I thought the same about you?"

Still furiously calm, if such a mixture of emotions was possible, Shadow answered the sorta-hypothetical question. "You'd be lying."

As he mulled over the response, Sonic's facial features contorted slightly in thought. He had expected his own realization to ring true in Shadow's mind, too, but if it had, it didn't seem to matter to black hedgehog. So much for a truce. _Getting what I want is going to be harder than I thought… _"Okay, whatever. But what if I said I attacked _you _for a reason, too?"

Deliberately obvious in his pretense, Shadow placed a hand on his chin and appeared to think. "Hm," he said simply, and then the conversation became less hypothetical and more threatening. "I think I would promptly demand that you explain yourself before I tear your head off and shove it up your—"

"You know, let's get something straight," Sonic interrupted suddenly, voice rising with startling authority he would later be proud of. "I don't do demands. Ever. And unless someone aside from me is involved, I also don't compromise in exchange for safety. _Ever._ Intimidating me won't work. Trying to beat me into submission won't work. Save your energy for a pushover."

"If you—"

"Look, all you need to know is that I have nothing to do with this barrier and I am not part of the empire. And so you're aware, I have my doubts about _you_, too, so I don't see any reason to tell you more than what I've just told you. I'm sitting here wondering why I'm looking at my semi-reflection just as much as you are. Deal with it."

A sigh of aggravation shamelessly sounded from Shadow's throat. "Are you finished?"

"No. I answered your question; I think it's my turn to get some answers."

"Fine. Ask a damn question. I'm sick of wasting my time."

At his opponent's irritated agreement of cooperation, a grin brightened Sonic's features and he transitioned back into his relaxed mood easily. "I suggest you get comfortable. This one's quite a time-waster."

Another sigh. "Get on with it so I can dissociate myself from you."

"Can you travel through time?"

For the first time since they'd met, Sonic saw Shadow's eyes widen to a point where he could see the entire red irises. "How in the world could you have guessed…"

"All the jumping around that one day sort of had me wondering," Sonic went on. "I mean, you just disappeared in one place and reappeared hundreds of feet away! Maybe it's a shocker to you, Shads, but that's not quite normal."

"You're quite observant, I see." Though he almost concealed it, there was a question in Shadow's eyes as he spoke.

Sonic realized he had been talking fast in order to humor his black rival. Now that he knew he had caught the hedgehog's attention, he slowed down. "I figured if you could travel through space, why not time, too? All I'm asking is that you tell me about it."

Shadow shifted his weight impatiently. "You think it's that simple? People who know about this Chaos power don't just go around and brag to the world." Sonic's face didn't change as he heard '_Chaos_ power,' but he made a mental note of it. "Imagine how messed up everything would be if everyone time-traveled. Imagine the consequences if everyone went back in time whenever they had a regret. Imagine the impact it would have on the here and now. My turn for a question again: why do you even care?"

Emerald eyes drifted away and began scanning the ground hesitantly. It was the first time in the last hour that any uncertainty had crept into his mind. Slowly looking back up, he voiced the most obvious words, the most readily available route to evasion: "It's a long story."

If Shadow noticed Sonic's reluctance, he didn't care. "An answer for an answer," he insisted, "or this long moment of mutual passiveness will come to an end."

Upon hearing the threat in Shadow's words, Sonic realized that the black hedgehog suddenly _did _care about what he had to say. Did this time-traveling ability mean something to him…? But why would it matter so much?

"Well?"

Sonic gathered himself, realizing he was about to disclose the details of his brother's death to a potential enemy. Then, in a level tone that he hoped he could retain, he began to explain. "I lost a friend not too long ago…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Half an hour later, the person that had been trying to beat the crap out of Sonic since their first encounter knew all the specifics of the blue hedgehog's recent history.

"I fail to sympathize. You're just being weak."

"That's all you have to say?"

They exchanged a glare, both on the edge of patience. They both opened their mouths to speak, interrupted each other, and fell silent again. Then Shadow said coldly, "You're not the only one this has happened to, you know."

"Of course I know," Sonic responded, but he sensed a deeper meaning in the Ultimate Lifeform's words… some sort of pain that he had tried and failed to hide…

_I have better questions to ask,_ he reminded himself.

"It's just a waste of time. I'd need a Chaos Emerald, anyway, and as far as I know, five of them can't be moved from their current spots."

Sonic's quills bounced as he raised his head up. "Wait. You didn't need a Chaos Emerald before, did you? When we fought?"

The black hedgehog scrutinized his face for a moment, again struck with astonishment at how observant his blue foe was. He would have to be careful in the future if his _own _plan was going to work… "No, I didn't," he said evenly. "That was only because we were fairly close to the barrier. I momentarily tapped into the Emeralds' power in order to teleport through the air. However, time-travel takes far more energy than the leftovers I can gather from that shield."

"So if I were to get a Chaos Emerald…"

"No, I would not take you back in time to change your friend's fate. What motivation would I have to help you, anyway?"

The smirk pulling up on the ends of Sonic's mouth pronounced itself without his permission, and he couldn't hide it. "Give you something to do while we're stuck in this dump, wouldn't it?"

"Stuck?" Shadow repeated incredulously. "Do you think I couldn't get out of here if I really wanted to?"

"You already told me you couldn't!" Sonic countered. "And besides, if you could, then how come I can still find you here? How come you haven't gotten out already?"

"I will not take you back in time. Speaking of which, _time_ is something I do not have for whatever the remainder of this conversation might have been. Sayonara." And before Sonic could do anything about it, his hope of resurrecting Tails had vanished, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.

"You didn't answer my question!" Sonic shouted pointlessly.

And again, he was stuck. He could chase down Shadow for a second time – it would take a while, but it wouldn't be impossible when they were both limited to forty square miles – but judging by past experience, he would only end up back at square one again.

Standing there in the middle of the ruins, Sonic suddenly grinned in spite of himself, a fist clenching in determination.

_…But maybe I can figure it out for myself._

In the next second, he was dashing through the jungle of the Mystic Ruins, already searching for the one person he knew would have a Chaos Emerald. He had given it to her himself a lifetime ago, it seemed… as payment for a favor.

And knowing Rouge the Bat and her obsession with gems, it would be more than safe to assume that she _definitely _still had it.

**See you in Chapter 6. Thanks for reading!  
**


	6. Ch 6: The Edge of Tomorrow

**This chapter's title, like the last, comes from a certain song in the Sonic games. In fact, they both come from the same song. I think this one's easier to guess. ;) Also, I wanted to mention that I know the actual plot seems to be staying in the same place. However, a lot of the seemingly meaningless things that have been going on are going to come into context later. Bear with me. ;)**

**Having said that, this chapter **_**will **_**further the plot somewhat and sort of set things up for the bigger events that are going to take place very soon in this story.**

**Enjoy.**

CHAPTER 6: The Edge of Tomorrow

Knuckles was picking berries a little ways behind the Master Emerald's altar, stomach growling quietly in anticipation as he dropped the juicy pieces into a spare glove.

In his mouth was a long piece of grass. It was the third he had chewed on that day, more out of agitation than anything. At least a week had passed since news of the new threats had been delivered, and the knowledge that he could do nothing but remain where he was hadn't gotten any easier to live with.

He knew that his duty – his _purpose _– was to guard the sacred relic that had been passed down through his clan for generations. But sometimes he got tired of standing by while the world was in danger, watching events unfold like he was just part of an audience. Even worse was how he had to watch Sonic 'save the day' every single time. It made him feel useless and obsolete, even though he knew how important his role as Guardian still was.

_It's not that you're _not_ contributing to the safety of the world, _the Master Emerald had assured him a few days ago. _You're just doing it behind the scenes, whereas Sonic—_

_Gets all the glory,_ he had interrupted mentally.

_Guardian, you know that if I was left unprotected, I would end up in the wrong hands, and everyone's lives would be plunged into chaos._

_Yeah. Because that's never happened before._

Knuckles filled his makeshift bag and hastily headed back the way he had come. The first thing he looked at upon leaving the jungle, of course, was the Master Emerald's altar. The green gem was still there, as usual. He tried not to think about how no one had attempted to take it in the last week. He tried not to think about how he could have been in the heart of the empire that entire time, doing something productive.

As he walked around to the front of the altar and began making his way up the long climb of steps, the echidna noticed something peculiar that he hadn't been able to see from the jungle's edge. That green glow was... brighter than usual.

That giant rock had something to say again.

Brows raised in curiosity, Knuckles leaped gracefully into the air, gliding over the rest of the stairs. He landed with ease, and before he could even form a comprehensible question in his mind, the Master Emerald explained itself.

_My positive energy has restored enough for me to pick up on the general direction of Sonic's thoughts, _the godly gem said, its voice a bodiless presence in Knuckles's conscience. _It appears as though Sonic has found a potential way to save his friend._

"…What? Wait, _Tails?_" The piece of grass slid out of Knuckles's mouth as he spoke, landing on his chest. He didn't appear to notice. "But there's no way…"

_There is, in fact. Time travel. You recall that I told you recently about two new forces drawing on Chaos energy._

Adapting to the shock the Master Emerald had delivered with its words, Knuckles remembered that he didn't need to speak for the Master Emerald to hear him. _Yes._

_While I still cannot tell what the second of the two was – the one that could destroy countless lives – I have come to understand the first one I informed you of._

Knuckles set his fruit down and folded his arms, listening intently.

_The first one – the being whom I called a threat to Sonic – has a rare ability called Chaos Control. It enables him to draw on my power or the power of the Chaos Emeralds and use it to warp himself through time or space. I have not seen this ability since before your clan's fall._

_That's a long time._

_Indeed it is, Guardian._

_But what does this matter concerning Sonic and Tails?_ Almost as soon as the echidna thought the question, the answer struck him, standing out obviously. The Master Emerald proceeded with it anyway, confirming his thoughts.

_If Sonic manages to convince him, he can return them to a point in time where Tails was alive._

_And bring him back…?_

_Possibly, though it would have extensive effects on the present if he was not careful._

Turning away, Knuckles allowed himself a moment to piece all of it together. _Wow._

_Guardian, do Sonic's intentions sit well with you?_

Hesitation delayed the echidna's answer. _Admittedly… no. No, they don't. See… _How to explain it? _Look. I sincerely missed Tails at first, more than I imagined I was capable of. I had no idea how much I would miss him. But now it's been months, and the fate of the planet is supposedly endangered, here!_

_I do not follow._

Knuckles gave a frustrated sigh in spite of himself. _Is that really all Sonic cares about is Tails? One person, in comparison to billions?_

The Master Emerald, possessing very little ability in the areas of both emotion and morality, was silent in Knuckles's head. Though not entirely inanimate, the green gem was also not human.

_That's so… incredibly selfish!_ Knuckles glared coldly out over his island, almost wishing Sonic was around to see the expression. _That stupid hedgehog…!_

_I dare advise you not to judge him. From what I have gathered about him, I do not think he would not judge you if the situation were reversed._

_Still…_

_Guardian, listen. I understand enough about humans' inane tendencies to be able to ask you this: would you not resurrect a loved one if given the choice?_

Knuckles was slightly taken aback by the turn the conversation had taken. As he considered, there was a moment of complete silence in both consciences. _I… I might. But as unfair as it sounds to say this, I'm _not_ Sonic, and…_ _and for all his faults, I would have put him above that kind of selfishness._

_You mustn't forget that Sonic's confidence far exceeds that of most others. Perhaps he feels he can resurrect Tails without jeopardizing the safety of the world._

Though the motion was pretty much pointless, Knuckles shook his head vigorously. _That doesn't justify it! If he was the hero everyone saw him as, he'd put the world first and worry about Tails later._

The Master Emerald, infinitely patient, said, _Nothing is set in stone yet. We shall wait and see – maybe Sonic knows what he is doing._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Sonic awoke early the next morning, the sky was overcast with clouds so thick it was impossible to even guess which one the sun was taking refuge behind. And that was assuming it had risen. It looked just dark enough to be the edge of the previous night, yet just light enough to be the beginning of the inevitable new day.

Sonic failed to notice that no birds were chirping. He failed to notice that the trees weren't rustling in the wind. He failed to notice the complete lack of any noise whatsoever.

As the hedgehog inhaled, the air was cool and dense with morning dew. He couldn't decide if it was pleasant or annoying. He breathed back out, lean body stiffening in a stretch momentarily, before propping himself up on his hands. Glancing at the tiling on either side of him, he realized he had to be on top of Tails's roof. Strangely, though, he didn't remember making a conscious decision to be there last night…

_Must've been sleeping on my feet when I came here. Jeez, I've been tired an awful lot lately…_

Chuckling at himself good-naturedly, Sonic rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. Then he pushed himself forward on his rear, sliding down the roof like he had done back when he'd slept there regularly. He reached the end and let himself fall off.

The ground was thousands and _thousands_ of feet below.

"AHHHH!" Sonic's stomach jumped in terrified shock; what in the world had just happened!? He threw his arms upward in a panic, reaching for the roof. Somehow, he managed to twist one arm a full 180 degrees and grasp the ledge just before it was too late. He squeezed for dear life as the rest of his body finished its descent with a harsh jolt, hearing his elbow and shoulder crack loudly under the strain. For a second he thought he'd broken one of the two, but then realized the joints had just popped.

Somewhere in his mind, it struck him that it _still _should've hurt somewhat. But it hadn't. At all.

It was the arm he'd had to fix the other day. In one small corner of his conscience, he wondered if he hadn't felt anything because something was still wrong with it. The worry was forgotten in the next second; there was a much, much larger problem at hand.

Literally and figuratively.

Entire cities, roads, forests, and canyons could be seen from how high he was. The world below looked like it would from the window of a plane. He definitely had _not _been on Tails's roof… but where, then? What was going on!?

"Eggman…!" He heard himself holler, already assuming that the doctor had something to do with this cruel joke.

Since his arm was already backwards compared to the rest of his body, Sonic twisted himself around to face whatever he was hanging onto. He had a good grip on the edge of the roof, but he turned slowly anyway; he wouldn't live to slip up again if he slipped up here.

"Sonic!" A cry pierced through the utter silence, sudden and sharp. "Is… is… is that really you? S-Sonic, help me! Please… Sonic!"

Sonic's eyes widened at the sound of the hysterical screaming; a young woman's screaming. He looked around as much as his predicament allowed, searching for the owner of the voice. "Say something again! I can't find you!"

"Sonic… I'm…!"

The left. Somewhere to the left. "Okay! I'll come get you, all right? Stay calm!"

Remembering he had another arm, the hedgehog swung it above his head and grasped the edge, then began moving to the left inch by inch. The scared voice suddenly went silent. His insides clenched. _That _was unsettling. He wanted her to scream again, just so he knew she was still okay…

"One hand at a time, one hand at a time," Sonic muttered to himself, words hardly audible through his heavy breathing and hammering heartbeat. He was scared, too. If either of them were going to get out of this… he had to get things under control now.

Sonic tried to pull himself back onto the safety of the foothold, but for some reason, he couldn't. It was like his arms could only bend so much at the elbow before stopping.

Why!?

"Sonic?" A different voice. Less panicked.

"Yeah?" He heard himself say in a high voice. He wished he didn't sound so frightened.

"Sonic… they're all dead."

Dread exploded in his stomach. Closing his eyes, he asked, "Who's all dead?"

"All of them." The words were coated in reluctance and regretful sadness. "All of them. They're all dead. Don't bother with your rescue – that person was only in your imagination. Just save yourself."

"Why are they dead?" He asked hoarsely. Even before he heard the answer, he somehow knew it, and the forlorn knowledge that he was about to hear it aloud pulled down on him like a weight.

"They're all dead. You contributed to their fates. You helped kill them, assassin. It's all over now. Just save yourself."

For some reason he didn't understand, Sonic didn't feel compelled to question the voice for more details. Instead, he said, "Just save myself? But... that's…"

"They're all dead. You might as well. Sorry."

Sonic looked down again. The world below was gone, replaced with a black void. He screamed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The blood rushed to Sonic's head as he shot up to a sitting position, jade eyes snapping open. Half-dried sweat clung to his fur. His heart was thumping so hard he could feel the pulsing all the way down to his toes.

Only after looking around frantically did he realize he had been dreaming. The hedgehog could have collapsed with relief upon that realization, but he instead remained in his sitting position, closing his eyes. Inhaling deeply, he replenished his oxygen.

Now he remembered falling asleep on Tails's roof. He had come there last night, not long after Shadow had run off.

Now his bad arm still ached a little. It hadn't hurt at all in his dream because it had been… a dream.

Now, he saw as he peered over the edge of the roof, the ground was where it belonged. He swung his legs over and pushed himself off, landing on his feet. Straightening up, he took another deep breath and then stayed where he was for a few minutes.

_Okay. That was a little messed up._

The sky was mostly clear, spotted with only a few clouds, and half of the sun was visible on the horizon line. After settling back into reality, Sonic began to jog, leaving the unpleasant dream where it had taken place. Once the initial shock was over, he didn't often dwell upon nightmares, and he had better things to concern himself with today anyway.

Rouge, for instance.

The hedgehog made his way to the bottom of the hill and darted across the smooth ground, already knowing where to start. Accelerating, he hopped over some broken chunks of ruins and headed for one of the caves. Its darkness swallowed him up as he entered, but he didn't slow; he knew every tunnel in the Mystic Ruins like the back of his hand.

Within seconds, Sonic came out of the cave's opposite opening in a blur. He swerved in and out of the trees scattered in his path, their branches lashing at his limbs, the morning light peeking through the leaves now and then. After the one-minute journey, he slowed his pace, zigzagging through the last of the trees before coming to a stop in an open area.

A little ways away, the ground dropped off, leading only to the water below. Across that gap, barely visible through the layer of morning fog, was Angel Island.

Sonic was prepared to run across the bridge and ask Knuckles if Rouge had been around to steal the Master Emerald lately, but the action was rendered unnecessary as a female voice unexpectedly addressed him.

"Sonic. Now there's a handsome face I haven't seen in a while."

The hedgehog whirred around, quills swinging behind him, to see the very white bat he was looking for walk out from behind a large rock.

"The right place at the right time," Sonic responded lightly, and partially to himself. "That doesn't happen very often!"

"Oh?" Rouge's eyebrows raised as she approached Sonic, hips swinging more than they should. "You were looking for me?"

Sonic was used to the female's questionable tendencies and ignored them; that was just Rouge's nature. "Yeah, I was, actually. Guess I thought right when I figured I'd find you lingering around the Master Emerald." He paused and Rouge smirked at him. "See, I need a little help."

"Do you?" The bat asked, folding her arms. "Well, I'm listening."

In a polite voice, Sonic broke the news he knew she wouldn't want to hear: "I need to borrow that Chaos Emerald I gave you."

The friendly atmosphere faltered just a little.

"My Chaos Emerald?" Rouge asked, still smiling but putting a particular emphasis on 'my.'

"Yeah. I just need it to try something," Sonic said, hoping inwardly that they could work this out the easy way. "I'll bring it back; you have my word on that."

Rouge looked away, appearing to be in thought, before saying, "I don't think so. I mean, it _is _rightfully mine."

Having expected an answer like that, Sonic kept a casually pleasant expression plastered on his face. "I know that," he said. "And I said you'd get it back, didn't I?"

"No can do," Rouge said, shaking her head. "I'm keeping this baby. This was your payment to me when I helped you before, and now it's mine."

Sonic was about to protest, but realized with a start that she was right. It was her right to keep the gem to herself if that was what she desired. _Even though she would steal it from anyone else, _he thought somewhat bitterly. The hedgehog stood there, not looking at her, trying to think of another way to go about reaching his goal. The quickest option was to fight her for it, but he was above that. There _was_ one more free Chaos Emerald out there, he knew. But there was no way of telling whether or not it was inside the barrier…

…Unless he had _another_ Chaos Emerald to track it down.

_Infinite loop._

He wondered if he could convince the bat to bring her Emerald and accompany him. If she agreed, she would be able to keep the gem without argument and he would be able to find his own. Everybody would win. Just as he was about to ask, though, he heard her draw in a breath to speak again.

"And besides," she said, continuing where she'd left off, "there's another hedgehog around here who kindly expressed to me that he wanted this Emerald kept away from you. Not sure why, but… I told him I would."

As Sonic looked at her, he realized that she was trying to justify her refusal to give him the Emerald. It wasn't because she was too selfish to let him borrow it, of _course _not; it was that she had given someone else her word that she would keep it away from him.

Psh. Sonic didn't buy it.

"He's going to pay you off, isn't he?" Sonic guessed with a knowing grin, already considering changing his mind. If Shadow was involved, maybe it was worth fighting Rouge after all…

"What does it matter?"

Friendly façades beginning to peel away, Sonic and Rouge stared each other down. Sonic's face was forced neutral, his jaw tight with suppressed impatience; Rouge's was irritated and suspicious. The former asked, "Are you two friends?"

"Acquaintances," Rouge replied. "He seems like a cool guy."

"But you don't really know him, do you?"

"Not to offend you, sugar, but… what's it to ya?" Still suspicious.

"There's just something about him I don't like."

"I can take care of myself."

"That's not the point I'm trying to make," Sonic said. "Look – don't listen to Shadow, okay? I need that Emerald!"

The bat chuckled lowly. "You'll have to catch me first."

"Oh, I don't think _that _will be a – hey!"

Rouge took to the air, boosting herself far out of Sonic's reach with a powerful swing of her dark wings. She was long gone before he could even shout for her to come back.

Without hesitation, Sonic turned and raced back the way he had come fast enough to cause a sonic boom. He went through the trees, through the cave, and back up to Tails's workshop in mere moments. Then, without bothering to look for the key first, he curled up and spun towards the garage, smashing a hole right through it. Only later would he become angry at himself for destroying part of his best friend's house. Landing with a clank, he hurried to the control pad and opened the garage from the inside. By the time it finished rising, he was in the cockpit of the Tornado, seatbelt buckled and engine humming.

He threw it into action, blasting down the runway and ascending into the air.

The Tornado flew so well Sonic figured it might as well have been used yesterday. The fuel gauge was pointed almost all the way to full and the engine sounded perfect. He pressed a button, bringing the windshield up and over the cockpit, before accelerating to three-hundred miles per hour. As soon as he flew over the last of the cliffs and caves, he could see Rouge. She was almost out of the Mystic Ruins and headed for former Station Square.

"I'll catch ya, all right," Sonic muttered, smirking a sideways smirk. He curved back down, heading towards her and letting the plane's speed level out. She only noticed him when he was gliding right alongside her.

"Seriously…?" Rouge said incredulously.

"Seriously!"

Rouge glared at Sonic then and dove almost straight down. His reflexes as fast as his speed, Sonic followed right behind her, the plane's nose mere yards away from her. "Rouge, I'd land if I were you!"

"Hmph! How dare you threaten a lady!"

_Sorry, I'm not sexist, _Sonic thought but didn't dare say. Instead, he tried again with the persuasion, having no desire to harm her. "Shadow's up to something trying to keep the Emeralds from me," he explained, catching up to Rouge and flying next to her again. "And since he knows I could _stop _him with the Emeralds, I can only assume that whatever _he's_ trying to do with them is bad for the rest of us."

"You're basing this off the assumption that if you're good, he must be evil?"

"If we were on the same side, he wouldn't be trying keep the Emerald from me, now, would he?"

Rouge ignored him and turned around in the air, flying the other way. Sonic made half circle in the air and stayed on her tail. Calmly, he asked, "Why don't you land so we can come to an agreement?"

"Hah! I don't think so!"

"Come on, Rouge. It's only an Emerald, isn't it?"

"It's not going to happen!" The bat's lips were formed into a stubborn pout. "Now stop following me!"

"This is important, you know. Please."

"Forget it!"

"Rouge, I won't keep arguing with you…" Sonic told her, looking ahead and not making eye contact.

"Then don't," she spat.

The hedgehog bit his lip, suddenly uneasy. "That's… not what I meant by that."

"I beg your _pardon_?"

"…Sorry."

"What do you mean, 'sorry'?"

Sonic locked the Tornado's weakest launcher onto Rouge's right wing… and fired. He closed his eyes as she cried out in pain, wishing he hadn't had to do it. Then, as she fell, he scooped the Tornado down and caught her on one of the wings. She grasped it for dear life.

"Of all people!" Shouted the very pissed off bat. "Who knew you could be such a jerk?"

"I am sorry I had to resort to that," Sonic said, looking at her meaningfully. "I didn't know if you were on your way to go tell Shadow about this, and I couldn't let you. He _can't_ have the Emerald."

"You could have just said so!"

"I tried to," Sonic pointed out in his defense. They both fell silent after that while he landed the plane. As soon as it hit the ground, Rouge hopped off the wing and began walking away.

Hastily lifting the windshield and hopping out of the plane, Sonic said, "Wait."

Fists clenched at her sides, Rouge did. Sonic approached her with a reluctant smile. "I still need that Chaos Emerald. Just give it to me and I'll get out of your hair. Fur." The bat turned to him, eyes shining, and Sonic realized she was on the verge of tears. He felt ashamed in spite of himself… but what else could he have done? "Rouge… you don't know what Shadow's up to," he said gently. "Maybe you think he's okay, but he's not."

"I don't know what he's up to," Rouge repeated angrily. "And you do?"

"I know you think I'm just telling you this because I want the Emerald, but I'm telling you the truth. He attacked me the second he saw me, before we ever said a word to each other. He keeps telling me he thinks I'm responsible for the barrier, but I think it's a lie. I think he just wants it to _look_ like I'm responsible for the barrier."

"Who _is _responsible for the barrier?"

"Eggman, for one," Sonic answered quickly, realizing he had finally earned her attention. "I'm thinking Shadow might be working with him in secret, though. The barrier's made of five Emeralds. Maybe Shadow's trying to gather the other two so Eggman can strengthen it."

Some of Rouge's stubbornness appeared to fade. "That… actually does make sense. But that's… not the only reason you need it, is it?"

Sonic was honest. "No. Tails… is in trouble."

"I see." But she didn't, Sonic thought. She had no idea.

"And hey, you know you can trust me with it. You can't trust Shadow."

Rouge thought. "You'll give it back, though?"

"You know I will. As long as you don't give it to Shadow."

And finally, Rouge gave in, tossing him the Chaos Emerald. He caught it in one hand. The bat began to walk away again.

"Wait," Sonic said again, catching up to her. "Let me try something." Before the bat could ask what, he closed his eyes, raising the Chaos Emerald toward her wing and concentrating. A green glow emitted from it, and suddenly, the wound in Rouge's wing was nonexistent.

"H-how…?"

"I know a thing or two about Chaos energy," he said with a wink, and then was gone. Rouge stood there dumbfounded, unable to decide whether to be angry, grateful, relieved, or all three.

**In the next chapter: Sonic takes his first stab at Chaos Control, but is interrupted by a certain unwelcome someone… and it's not Shadow. Suddenly, a day of relative relaxation gets turned into a desperate fight to keep the Emerald hidden at **_**all**_** costs – a task that turns out to be much easier said than done, even for the blue blur.**


	7. Ch 7: Rebound

**I apologize for the space between the last update and this one; I know it's been a little longer than usual. Unfortunately, life's gotten a lot busier. I'm trying to make use of my free time and get back on track, though, and I promise that my own life will have no affect on the quality of this fiction. I love typing this more than just about ANYTHING right now, though, and I'm thinking I'll still be able to update every two weeks or so as compared every 10 days.**

**Thank you for sticking with this story so far; the amount of positive feedback I'm getting is making me very happy, along with the criticism. I hope you'll all continue to like this as much as I have thus far.**

**I think you'll like this chapter. I'll admit right off that it does very little to affect the story's main plot - having said that, it's not a filler chapter, either. Somewhere in between, I suppose, because it still matters. If you ask me, a story isn't all about the plot anyway. It's also about the characters themselves, and how they develop and grow and learn throughout. And it's about the emotion that you - the readers - experience while reading.**

**And if you look carefully enough, you'll find a lot of character in this chapter... and a lot of action.  
**

**Enjoy.**

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CHAPTER 7: Rebound

"Chaos… control!"

"Chaos… control!"

"Chaos… _shit!_"

Sonic jerked his hand away fast, glove suddenly steaming with heat, and right then he just _knew _Shadow would have been adding insult to injury had he been around.

The Chaos Emerald fell to the ground, its tip digging into the dirt and its green aura casting an earthly glow on the surrounding dry grass. Recovering from the brief burning sensation, the hedgehog quickly picked it up. There were at least two other people in the empire who wouldn't miss an opportunity to snatch the thing, and he wasn't about to grant them that opportunity.

He tossed it back and forth between his hands. It was still hot, even through his gloves. Emeralds increased in temperature when they were near each other; that much Sonic realized. But that Emerald hadn't been nearly as warm ten seconds ago.

But then again, he'd shouted "Chaos control" several times continuously in those ten seconds. Perhaps Chaos Emeralds were like computers, and could only process so many commands before overheating. He kept silent and allowed the gem a chance to settle down. A few seconds later it was back to its regular temperature.

When he opened his mouth again, he released the words more calmly and slowly, hoping the Chaos Emerald would draw on that calm and fulfill his request with ease. "Chaos control."

Nothing happened.

"Hm." Sonic looked at the gem, as if he would find the answer to his question in its shining cuts. He had always been exceptionally talented in the usage of Chaos energy; why wouldn't anything happen now?

It was as sudden as the first time. The Chaos Emerald intensified in heat to the point where Sonic almost had to let go again. It cooled a little and then repeated the process, without rhyme or reason. He stood there, puzzled. Then, as if it should have been obvious from the start – and it probably should have been – he realized he was being hunted.

Whoever had the last free Emerald was trying to track him down.

"Like you can catch me." Laughing, Sonic chose a direction and broke into a run. The Chaos Emerald settled back to its normal temperature quickly and he knew he was going the right way. He put the gem in the safety of his thick quills and accelerated, following the Emerald as it got cooler, and found himself heading for the old Station Square.

Being one of the fastest things on the ground, it wasn't very often the blue blur fell into a trap. But when he reached the outskirts of the city, a huge semicircle of robots was there waiting for him.

Caught by surprise, Sonic skidded to a halt, only managing to stop completely when he was in the middle of the group. He immediately raised his arms and took on a defensive stance, prepared to fight.

The droids were painted black and gold, the two colors contrasting vibrantly. Attached to each one's right arm was a machine gun; to each left arm, an electric saw. Their dime-sized eyes glowed like flashlights in the darkness of the cloudy evening. Tall and broad-shouldered, they were the most threatening robots Sonic had seen since Zorro. On each one's side was a logo with the letters 'EEE' on it. He wondered what the acronym stood for.

The right arms of the robots began to raise simultaneously, the sound of shifting metal rousing the evening silence. Not waiting for them to ready their guns, Sonic charged.

Sensing the sudden movement, they did too. Bullets fired one after another so fast it sounded like a motor. It happened fast; even Sonic couldn't tell when to jump or duck. To his fortune, the bullets all missed him – or he missed them, one or the other. Smirking, he fell forward in mid-run and grabbed his knees, spinning along the ground and aiming for the nearest robot, curving up into its chest at the last second.

It came as a surprise when the thing _didn't _blow up on impact. Rather than plow through it, Sonic felt himself ricochet off it and fly backwards. He uncurled and threw his hands out behind him just in time to absorb the impact of the fall. Instead of skidding along the concrete and consequently getting dozens of bloody scrapes, Sonic followed his own momentum and flipped his feet over his head, somersaulting backwards.

Half a second after he got out of the way, a shower of bullets punctured the dirt where he had landed.

On his feet again but somewhat discombobulated, Sonic began to shuffle backwards just in case the robots' guns were still chasing him. When he saw that they weren't, he came to a stop. And then laughed.

At least a dozen of the robots were aflame on the ground, full of bullet holes from their apparent comrades.

"Oh, jeez… strong and stupid isn't such a great combin—_UH!_"

Before he could even finish his insult, something smacked him hard in the back. He hit the ground on his front and started rolling instinctively, knowing better than to stay still.

He couldn't even get ten feet away. A metallic foot suddenly came down on his stomach in mid-roll, pinning him to the ground. His breath came out in one sharp exhale, and immediately, he struggled to get it back – but there was so much of the robot's weight on him that even inhaling was difficult. He felt himself gasping soundlessly; frantically.

The weight lifted. He felt the oxygen rushing back into his system. His first instinct was to get up and run, and though he tried, his body was too busy trying to recover to let him. By the time the lightheadedness went away, two robots had lifted him off the ground and began to walk back towards their group. One of them raised a hand, signaling to the other robots to yield.

"Let go!" Sonic shouted, like anyone else in his situation would. The bots were holding him up high by his armpits; high enough to keep his feet far from the ground. He kicked their sides repeatedly, but it was pointless. He might as well have been poking them with a feather.

Another robot came towards them fast, built-in saw spinning threateningly. Sonic flinched away is it came within inches of his face. It pulled away right after, and he realized that the robot hadn't actually been trying to touch him with it. Not that time, anyway.

_He's just letting me know what this is all about._

Sonic grinned. "Don't you know you're not supposed to run with sharp objects?"

Said sharp object began to spin faster, its buzz becoming painfully loud. He wished he could reach up and cover his ears. "Look, I know you're not going to kill me. Eggman already told me he thought that was too easy. So we can stop with the badass act now, okay?"

Even as he was speaking the words, Sonic remembered exactly _why _Eggman didn't want to kill him. _"I want to make your life as miserable as you have made mine…" _The words echoed in his head as if they'd just been spoken.

"I never said we had a plan to kill you," the robot said in a monotone. It stepped back, looking from Sonic to the robots holding onto him, as if relishing the scene and relishing what it was about to do.

Sonic's breathing got just a little faster.

"You will tell us who gave you the Chaos Emerald that you recently acquired. You will also tell us where to find the seventh Emerald."

"I don't even know where the seventh one is," the hedgehog said honestly. He was relieved at what the robot had said, though; that meant Eggman didn't have the last Emerald yet. "Not that I'd tell you if I did."

That saw moved in toward Sonic's arm, touching it just enough to remove some of the fur. His eyes closed involuntarily. He could feel his heart racing.

"Then tell us who gave you the sixth," the robot insisted.

"Why do you need to know who gave it to me?"

"It is likely he or she will have the seventh, of course."

"No, he or she doesn't have the seventh. I know that." At least, he was pretty sure he knew. If Rouge did have the other Chaos Emerald, she would have mentioned it to him, wouldn't she? Even if only to brag?

"Then you must know where it is," the robot pressed on persuasively, coming so close that Sonic could smell the fuel.

"Nope. I already told you that." On the surface, the hedgehog looked relaxed… but looks were deceiving. What lie below the façade was a different story.

"Then you will tell us where you have hidden the sixth Chaos Emerald."

With a start, Sonic remembered it was right in his quills. Eggman, somehow, had been able to track it long enough to lead him to the robots… but the robots themselves didn't seem to have a way of knowing where the Emerald was.

Unless he told them.

_Here it goes. _"Never."

The hedgehog inhaled sharply, a hiss of pain, as the saw sliced through the skin on his arm like a hot knife through butter. The robot took its sweet time before withdrawing. A single line of blood ran down his arm. The wound wasn't deep enough to be worrisome, but Sonic already understood that it wasn't meant to be. It was only meant to be painful.

It succeeded.

"Have you changed your mind yet?"

Sonic looked up from the stinging wound. "I think the word 'never' makes itself pretty clear."

"You will feel the next one far more. I will be fair and allow you another chance beforehand to reconsider your decision."

"I bet you feel good about yourself for being so merciful," Sonic retorted.

"I will repeat this process as many times as it takes to get words from you, blue hedgehog."

"If you were to do that, eventually I'd either pass out or die, and then you wouldn't be able to get any information from me," Sonic pointed out, smiling. "Don't you think it's all sort of pointless?" He tried to put the noise from the robot's weapon in the background. It wasn't working too well.

The robot's golden eyes actually narrowed. "You are stalling."

Unashamed, Sonic confessed, "You bet I am! I'm no masochist, pal!"

"Give me your answer."

"I already did!"

"You have not changed your mind?"

"My decision is made."

Sonic's head was turned away and his eyes were squeezed shut as the buzzing sound came closer. He realized there was nothing he could do. He wasn't strong enough to break free. There was nobody else around. Unless he gave them the Chaos Emerald, there was no way to escape. Lying was an option – perhaps he could say it was buried somewhere on the other side of the city – but the robots would probably take him along to make sure the Emerald was there before letting him go, which rendered dishonesty useless.

"Stop!" An irritated male voice commanded from behind him, just loud enough to be heard over the spinning metal. Sonic opened his eyes as the robot, now inches away from him, withdrew his weapon and backed off. "You were told to _hold _him until I arrived; nothing more!"

Sonic stiffened momentarily. Now that the noise had stopped, he could tell clearly whose voice that was. It caught him off guard, even though a part of him had known to expect it.

The metallic arms released him and he fell to the ground, catching himself on his hands and knees. He stood up immediately, brushing the dirt from his fur. All three mechanical warriors fell back into what was left of their group.

Examining the wound on his arm, Sonic listened as the doctor began to speak again. "I must say, Sonic, I am unpleasantly surprised."

The hedgehog knew he was referring to the dozen or so robots that lay in pieces on the ground. "Well, _I'm_ surprised that it still surprises you to see an army of your robots down for the count," he shot back.

"Please. Nobody could be blamed for expecting you to lose _this _one… especially given your state the last time we saw each other," Eggman added with a dark chuckle.

Stepping around to face the doctor, Sonic grinned. "Seeing as how I _won, _should I take that as a compliment?"

"Of course not."

Their eyes met, and Sonic had the pleasure of watching Eggman's smug expression collapse into an empty scowl. He knew why. He knew what the doctor had expected to see when they looked at each other.

Voice hollow and cold, Eggman muttered, "Oh."

"So, that trap was pretty clever," Sonic said, pretending not to acknowledge the doctor's obvious irritation. "How'd you find me if you don't have any more Chaos Emeralds, though?"

Eggman laughed, apparently getting over himself for the moment. "You think I need one of those to track you down, dear hedgehog? It was simple enough using the power of the barrier and my own superior intellect." He paused, and his voice adopted a sinister tone. "I can find you _anywhere _while you're stuck in my glorious empire."

"Finding me is the easy part, you know. There's still the matter of catching me!"

Raising his eyebrows, the scientist grasped at the opportunity those words had presented him. "Oh! You plan to run away, then? Like you have been this whole time?"

Sonic growled under his breath. "Hey, I never said that. And I _wasn't _running away!"

A section on the front of Eggman's hovercraft slid open, revealing a combative machine that was made for battle. There were launchers for bullets, missiles, lasers, _bombs…_ and a pair of retractable metallic limbs bigger than Sonic was. "Then fight me, Sonic. I want to hurt you."

The blue blur simply laughed at the challenge. "Just make the first move, doc."

Eggman promptly complied, asking for no further confirmation. A torrent of missiles locked onto Sonic and blasted forward.

The hedgehog watched the projectiles with mild amusement, then jumped at the last second. Two of them collided and blew up; the remainder whipped around and followed him. Hearing their mechanical whirr, he accelerated, heading towards the huge construction site that had once been Station Square. Shaking these missiles meant either finding a place to hide or finding an obstacle to put between him and them.

The city ruins would provide both.

Again hearing the high-pitched whistles behind him, Sonic glanced quickly over his shoulder. They… they were actually gaining on him! Pushing himself faster, he broke the sound barrier, and the wind from his sudden velocity blew the missiles backwards.

Focusing his attention in front of him, Sonic darted for a pile of debris that was most likely left over from a demolished building. When he was close enough, he sprung into the air and soared over it. He was satisfied to hear several explosions behind him milliseconds later.

One missile left.

With a grin, the blue blur leapt into the air again, doing several unnecessary spins and flips before landing on an awning. As it flung him up the building it was attached to – which happened to be a skyscraper – the last projectile crashed through one of the windows and exploded.

"All riii— _Whoa!_" Sonic triumphant proclamation of victory was suddenly halted as he looked beneath him. Eggman's machine had caught up, and he was nowhere near finished. Still ascending from the momentum the awning had granted him, Sonic turned his body skyward and began to run up the building. Windows shattered below him as bullets began chasing him. Just as he reacted and sped up, one of them nicked his ankle. He ignored it.

Mere seconds later, Sonic soared off the top of the building and arced back down, landing neatly on its rooftop. Eggman arrived behind him quicker than he expected, reaching for him with those long, metallic hands. He fell rather than dodged to get out of the way, caught by surprise. Before the limbs could grasp him, he scrambled back to his feet and darted to the other side of the roof.

"That was a close call, eh, Sonic? How's the ankle?"

For a moment, Sonic was surprised that the doctor would interrupt such a great fight just to taunt him. Then he remembered it _was_ Eggman. "Just fine," he replied, shifting his weight to said ankle to see for himself if his words were even true. It was sore, but he could tell that the bullet had only torn at the flesh. To him, it was nothing.

"Tell me, Sonic – how do you plan to get off this building, hm?"

Since he couldn't think of a witty response at the time, the hedgehog charged forward and made to attack again. He was starting to like attacking foes while they were trying to talk to him… mostly because it hadn't failed yet.

This time it did.

Eggman moved out of the way just in time and smacked Sonic in the back with the machine's right hand. He went flying forward toward the edge of the building, his momentum already too great to stop.

Sonic screeched in surprise as the foothold beneath him was suddenly gone. In a panicked frenzy he reached up and grasped the edge just before it was too late. "Hey, what happened to not wanting to kill me!?"

The doctor laughed in response. "You're not dead yet, are you?"

On the edge of panicking, Sonic struggled to pull himself back on the building. Meanwhile, the hovercraft began to inch closer, a metallic hand raised up high in the air. It didn't take the hedgehog long to realize what Eggman was about to do. If he didn't get something solid beneath his feet very, very soon, the situation would end on an incredibly painful note…

Sonic took in the doctor's smiling face, the gentle purring of his machine, the sight of that enormous and undoubtedly heavy limb as it came to a halt high above him. The two options were clearly to either let go and figure something out on the way down or get a broken hand. Ever-determined, the blue blur attempted to evade that choice altogether. Nervous eyes locked on the weapon as it descended… and he made one last effort to save himself.

He shuffled out of the way a split-second too early, giving the machine just enough time to readjust its aim. As harsh as it was huge, that hand slammed down without mercy, crushing his fingers beneath it.

Had the area been as populated as it once was, every last citizen of Station Square would have heard his bloodcurdling scream.

The seconds that followed were intense and agonizing, Sonic kept from falling only by his broken hand as the machine pressed it against the building. Eyes squeezed tightly shut, and he heard himself try to speak. The sounds came out in strained grunts. Dizziness threatened to claim him as he tried to get a hold of himself.

An eternity passed in slow motion.

Something happened – he didn't know what, but whatever it was had caused the pain in his hand to halve itself. Relief washed over him like hot bathwater for a brief second, and then his common sense returned to him.

He was falling.

Frantic all over again, he opened his eyes with the intent of finding something to grab onto. What he saw instead was Eggman, descending along with him in the safety of his machine.

That nasty smile still plastered on his face, the doctor said tauntingly, "Sonic… you know, the higher you are, the harder you land."

Sonic looked down as he fell, fighting to ignore the lingering throbbing in his hand, and suddenly thought of something. "And the harder you land…" he began, curling up into a ball and daring to speed up his fall, "the harder you…"

Trailing off, the hedgehog finished his descent and uncurled at the last second, flipping over so he was upright in the air. Ever resilient, his legs plunged hard into the supple awning he had used only minutes ago. In an instant, the direction of his momentum was reversed and he was flung back upward, skyrocketing like a rock from a slingshot at Eggman's machine.

"_…rebound!_"

The doctor had about a second to get out of the way. With reflexes about as fast as those of a turtle on depressants, he took no advantage of that opportunity.

A trail of black smoke followed his armed vehicle as it was sent back up into the air. As Sonic landed, he mused that it would be appropriate for the thing to blow up and create a huge firework right then. Instead, Eggman managed to turn the damaged machine around and start flying away clumsily.

The only weapons the obese scientist managed to fire after that was a barrage of insults and general vulgarity in Sonic's direction.

When he was out of sight, the blue blur's cocky expression collapsed, followed quickly by his body. He landed in a sitting position on his knees, letting out a moan. As the adrenaline rush died down, the sharp ache in his injured extremity rose with a vengeance to replace it. He wondered how bad the breaks were.

Tensing, the hedgehog eased off his glove and looked at the damage. He actually winced at the sight; his fingers were deformed in ways he hadn't imagined were possible, and one of his knuckles was nonexistent. Something like sickness formed in his stomach. Not because of the way it looked, or because of the pain it caused him.

Because that hand would _heal _that way. There were no longer any free doctors in the empire.

A few minutes passed, during which he carefully slid his glove back on. Adapting to the discomfort that he knew would remain for several more hours, the hedgehog used one hand to push himself back on his feet. _It could be worse…_ he thought to himself, trying to avoid pessimism._ At least it's not my writing hand!_

Glancing up at the skyscraper that had both nearly caused his death _and _saved his life in the last ten minutes, Sonic suddenly remembered his recent dream. Had he not been hanging from a large building there, too? He knew the similarity was nothing more than ironic coincidence.

But still, that dream… Would he have found a way to take care of the situation, like he had in real life a few minutes ago? And what was up with those voices? Why the hell did he care _anyway?_ It was a dream!

Still, he heard himself whisper, "…I'm no assassin."

Sonic's broken hand gave a painful throb. He winced, letting his eyes fall shut, but was somewhat thankful that his body had pulled him back to reality. After that, he forced himself not to stress further over the disturbing dream. What replaced the thought instead was Eggman. He wondered why the doctor had wanted to confront him in the first place. Once upon a time, he would have seen such an encounter as normal… but the doctor had changed since that time, and Sonic was not oblivious.

No longer was it about the wins and losses tally.

No longer was it about teasing people with predictable threats and boasts.

No longer was it about merely 'defeating those irritating heroes.'

To win was to win not only the battle, but the war. To threaten was to promise. To defeat was to kill.

And with a start, Sonic realized that it had been that way since the destruction of their home city. Eggman had allowed a _toddler _to be severely injured by Zorro that day… and the hedgehog still didn't know whether or not that young boy had survived.

_Now he's taking things even more seriously. I have to do the same._

A distant part of Sonic's mind, a part that wasn't currently claimed by his musings, lifted his good hand and guided it to the back of his head. After searching through the unkempt quills and finally resting upon the Chaos Emerald it had been seeking, it fell back to his side.

_Eh… no, I don't. Serious is boring._

Letting nothing stop him – including his injured and aching hand – Sonic bolted off with a smirk on his face, deciding he would know where he was going when he got there.

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Meanwhile, one city over, a certain red-striped hedgehog was trapped under a ridiculous amount of debris, glaring at two guard robots as they stood before him.

"You _and _your fat master will suffer once I get out of here."

"My internal dictionary indicates that your threat is almost synonymous with the last three you have voiced. Do you not have something new to say to me?"

Shadow growled under his breath. "Chaos control!" He shouted, though he already knew it was pointless; he was too far inward from the barrier to draw on any Chaos energy.

"Agree to obey your master, and we shall end your pain and take you to him at once."

"He's _your _damn master, not mine," Shadow snapped furiously, fist making a clanking sound as it slammed against the metal ground.

"Eggman freed you several months ago. You are in his debt," the robot insisted.

"He freed me because his grandfather created me. If anybody was ever my 'master,' it was Gerald and only Gerald. I am well over fifty years old; I do not need to be supervised and ordered around!"

"Then you shall remain here until you change your mind."

Shadow pushed against the chunks of metal and brick on top of him, trying – not for the first time – to squeeze out of the painful situation. The debris only shifted, the corner of something pressing harder into his back, and he restrained a groan.

He was strong – stronger than anybody he had ever encountered. But with hundreds of pounds of building on top of him, even the Ultimate Lifeform couldn't work himself free.

**Some inspiration sparked the idea for this chapter. A while back, I saw this cheesy poster that said 'Optimism: the harder you fall, the higher you bounce back up' or something to that extent. Obviously, I took the second part of that statement and turned it into something literal, realizing it'd make a clever and exciting idea for Sonic and Eggman's inevitable fight. So, there's a little insight behind this chapter for you. I hope the fight scene pleased you… but even more, I hope that Sonic himself pleased you. Just look at the difference between this and Chapter 3… methinks he's got his feet firmly under him again. ;) Oh yes, and please review. That would be GREAT.**

**Next: Sonic encounters his black rival AGAIN… and is told several very disturbing things about himself. It turns out the two hedgehogs aren't so different after all… but just what do all of these things mean for the future… and, for that matter, the past?**


	8. Ch 8: Bad Guy

**Those of you who have played Sonic and the Black Knight will know what the inspiration behind the title of 'Bad Guy' is (not that this has anything to do with said game – just the title). Remember? "Guess I can't be the hero every time." … "I don't mind being the bad guy once in a while." **

**Speaking of Sonic and the Black Knight, I do have an adaptation of that game's ending posted, if you want to read it. Not to, uh, self-advertise or anything. Oh, and _speaking_ of not self-advertising, I also have a one-shot up about Sonic's grueling attempt to overcome aquaphobia. ;) Just throwin' it out there, guys.**

**Anyway...  
**

**Enjoy.**

CHAPTER 8: Bad Guy

Sonic's aimless run led him through a large forest and into another, smaller city. Whether he had headed in that direction by merest coincidence or some sixth sense directing him, he didn't know.

But when he came across a collapsed building that the Ultimate Lifeform just happened to be trapped beneath, he realized he had a reason to be there after all.

Before the darker hedgehog could spot him, he made himself a gust of wind and dashed over to the nearest structure, hiding behind it. He slid down and let his bottom hit the renovated metal ground, realizing he was tired: he hadn't stopped running since he had defeated Eggman's machine. It had felt good, and the warm rush of wind in his face had distracted him somewhat from his aching hand. But now was as good a time as any to chill for a few, and it didn't appear that Shadow was going anywhere.

What was _up _with that, anyway? Sonic wanted to find out, but that constant throbbing in his hand dulled his curiosity. He knew some first aid – one sort of figured that out when injury occurred seemingly every other day – but he couldn't do anything without the resources. The only choice was to wait it out.

He leaned his head back against the building behind him, trying to relax. A few minutes passed, during which it began to rain lightly. The cool mist dampened his fur, and he found himself hugging his knees to his chest to keep warm.

_Sometimes, _he mused to himself, rolling his eyes and grinning a little, _things just suck._

Right then, a frustrated groan presented itself to the hedgehog's eardrums, and he realized Shadow was probably thinking the exact same thing (if not in a much more creative and vulgar way). Because misery loved company, he decided to make his presence known to the other hedgehog, getting up and walking into his line of sight.

Shadow didn't notice him immediately; his attention was focused on his own predicament. It took until Sonic was only yards away for the Ultimate Lifeform to look up, and when he did, his glare intensified ten-fold.

Sonic, on the contrary, smiled. "Hey there, Predictable," he greeted lightheartedly. "Or wait – Faker! Hm… I don't know, which one do you prefer?"

"It doesn't matter much," Shadow shot back sharply, "considering you won't have a mouth to say either of them with pretty soon."

"Hmph. You're just barking. Bite me."

Shadow sighed, appearing bored.

"Powerless without a Chaos Emerald, aren't you?" The other one continued, smile morphing into a knowing smirk. "You can only win when you cheat."

"You think _that's_ cheating? Hah!" Shadow snapped. You don't know what kind of strength it takes to successfully use Chaos Control. It's far too hard to be considered _cheating._"

"Doesn't change the fact that you can't get out of there without help."

"I'm immortal," Shadow said dryly. "If you think I'll die here, you're sadly mistaken."

"Still doesn't change anything."

Shadow pushed against the heavy debris with every ounce of strength he had, but it stubbornly refused to budge. He winced with the effort, face crunching as he inadvertently pressed his back harder into the rough edge above it.

"You're in pain," Sonic said obviously, rubbing the fact in and carefully hiding his _own _physical discomfort. "I'll get you out."

"Don't even pretend to play that overdone hero game with me," Shadow spat. "There are conditions." It wasn't a question; it was a statement

The blue blur shrugged and nodded in confirmation. "Of course there are. Can't be the hero every time!"

Looking away, Shadow fell silent. He knew just what Sonic's conditions would be… but was it worth the risk to himself?

_If I play this right… I can still get what I want…_

"I will take you back in time, and that's all," said the Ultimate Lifeform reluctantly. "I will not teach you Chaos Control. And you can deal with this damn empire alone. Of course, you'll also need an Emerald that's _not _attached to the barrier in order to time-travel."

Sonic's good hand flinched ever so slightly as he reached for the one Rouge had given him, but he stopped himself, remembering that the _seventh_ Emerald wasn't in his own possession _or_ Eggman's.

"You have one," he said, though he had no idea if Shadow actually did or not. "There are only two that aren't with the barrier. I know you have one." Just in case he did.

"No, I do not," Shadow said coldly. "You said yourself that I would have gotten out of the empire by now if I did."

Sonic held the darker hog's gaze for several seconds. He found anger, irritation, and begrudging inferiority in those blood-red eyes, but not dishonesty. "Okay, okay. Just had to make sure." Sonic's expression relaxed and he revealed his own Chaos Emerald briefly before placing it back in the safety of his quills. "I'm going to curl up and throw myself at those chunks above you as hard as I can. They should break to pieces. If you're really as fast as I am, you'll be able to get yourself out of there before the rest rolls down on ya."

"Then do it."

Sonic complied, doing exactly what he said he would do. The slab of building pinning Shadow to the ground broke into dozens of pieces as the blue blur made impact, and the black hedgehog pulled himself out of the way a split-second before the rest of the debris came tumbling down on the empty space.

It took the resulting dust an entire minute to clear.

When sight was again possible, the two hedgehogs approached each other, one grinning and the other glaring – as usual. The latter of the two cut to the chase quickly, getting right down to business. "Time should seldom be tampered with. You think things will be all happy and perfect again, but you're going to end up finding out that things are better off the way they are."

"If we never try, we'll never know," Sonic replied. _I'm not a big fan of messing with natural processes… but the way Tails was killed wasn't natural. That wasn't how it was supposed to be._

"You're going to regret this."

Again, Sonic blew off the warning. "Not likely," he insisted, grinning nonchalantly. "I've tampered with life too many times to worry about one more little thing going wrong." He paused suddenly, face becoming unreadable, and looked at Shadow sincerely. "Tails had a whole life ahead of him. This isn't for me, you know. It's for him."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "How damn selfless."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Please." The dark hedgehog said, and suddenly, there was more emotion – more _anger _– in his expression than Sonic had ever seen in him before. "You don't want to bring Tails back because he 'deserves to live' or anything like that. That's what you want other people to think, including yourself, because you want to be able to sleep at night. If I'm a _faker_, I can't even imagine what you are!"

"Hey, that's not how…!"

Shadow cut him off – he was on a role and wasn't about to show his rival any mercy. "You want him back for _you._ You miss him. _You _know that without him, you'll never have another friend who's fast enough to keep up with you _and _ who will see you as a normal person instead of a _celebrity_." The dark hedgehog's face was a glare, subtle yet fierce. "You enjoy frequent time to yourself, but you don't _want _to be alone completely, do you? And without your 'little brother,' you will be."

"How the hell would _you _know all this, Shadow?" Sonic nearly shouted, hardly managing to suppress the pain he was sure he had left in the past. Following the outburst, he closed his eyes, making himself get a grasp on his emotions instead of allowing it to be the other way around. "You don't even know _me._"

"Perhaps not, but I know your situation, and that's enough. People are predictable, and you're just responding in the same way as anyone else." Rare hesitation and uncertainty made Shadow pause. "The same way that _I _did," he admitted, voice quiet and cold. "You may be caring and altruistic, but that doesn't mean you don't have selfish desires just like the rest of us. You just contain them better."

"The same way you did," Sonic repeated, and his mind traveled back to the last conversation the two had shared, particularly one sentence of it…

_"You're not the only one this has happened to, you know."_

He remembered the undertone in Shadow's voice as he spoke those words; that hidden meaning he hadn't wanted Sonic to see at the time. Now he understood exactly what the darker hedgehog had secretly implied in that sentence.

The Ultimate Lifeform saw the subtle change in Sonic's expression – that internal realization that probably hadn't meant to be noticed – and decided to answer the question he knew was drifting around in the hedgehog's mind. "Her name was… Maria," he whispered, genuine sadness soaking his words. Black eyelids fell shut and silky voice fell silent as he paid tribute to her name. Then, slowly, he looked at Sonic again, expression still colder than ice. "You're not the only one who's had to deal with death. I don't see why you should get to go back and reverse it when no one else gets that privilege."

If the blue hedgehog heard the words at all, he didn't acknowledge them. "You of all people… you were actually close enough to someone for their death to affect you?" If not for his surprise, Sonic might have noticed the insensitivity of his own question.

"I'm bitter and indifferent, and that automatically means I've never loved? Did it ever occur to you, _Faker,_ that maybe despair is what made me this way?"

The silence following the question was tense and more than a little awkward. Then, finally coming up with the words to describe his thoughts, Sonic responded. "My turn to say what you don't want to hear: it's your own fault you're the way you are. You don't have to let something ruin your life like that." An eyebrow raised slightly as he finished: "That's something _I _know from experience."

Shadow's fists clenched as he glowered at his rival. "Don't even feed me that shit. The only reason your life isn't ruined too is because you think there's hope to see Tails again."

This time, Shadow's words did not hit a nerve; Sonic just couldn't see the truth in them. "You don't know me. Like I said."

"We'll see."

Foot tapping, Sonic again took out his Chaos Emerald. "Take me back in time. I'm tired of this, aren't you?"

"Give me your Emerald and hold onto my arm. If you let go, I'm not searching the dimensions in between to find you."

The words made Sonic shudder inside; could he really get stuck in the past? The thought was unnerving, even if they _were _only going back a few months. "Anything else, then?"

Shadow looked at him. "Certainly you know enough about the Chaos Emeralds to know that emotion fuels them." He waited for Sonic to nod and then continued. "So stay calm. Any extreme emotion can throw things off course… oftentimes to a point where it's difficult to fix. Do you need a moment?"

For a minute, Sonic thought the other hedgehog's question was meant as an insult, but as he made eye contact he realized it wasn't. There was real danger involved in Chaos Control, and his own inexperience was a huge risk to both of them.

He wondered why Shadow even bothered with such a risk. He was free to race away right now, yet he was doing what he had agreed to do…?

He should have been suspicious. Instead, the blue hedgehog reasoned that even people who were cold-hearted had some morals, and that honesty must have been one of Shadow's. He didn't know that that was exactly what the black hedgehog wanted him to think.

"No," he said after a moment, answering Shadow's question. "I'm calm."

"If you say so." The black hedgehog scrutinized Sonic, looking for any body language that contradicted his words (if only to have another reason to call him 'Faker'), but he appeared relatively composed. "Grab on then," he commanded. "The first time is never comfortable – but let go under no circumstances."

Sonic gripped the forearm of his temporary teammate with one hand, his broken one still hanging uselessly next to him. Eyelids closed over cool jade eyes as he reminded himself that this was just another Chaos power. "Don't warn me," he said quietly, knowing that a countdown would only cause nervous anticipation. And Shadow didn't.

"Chaos control!!"

**Thanks for reading; please review.**

**Up next: the plot thickens, heading somewhere big… Will Sonic accomplish his goal? And whether he does or doesn't, will their teleportation to the past somehow have an effect on the present? Also, Sonic gets an idea of just what was going through Tails's mind when he made that sacrificial decision all those months ago…**


	9. Ch 9: The Works of Yesterday

**This chapter might be just a little confusing, but you should understand it if you're paying attention. If you have any questions, just let me know in a review and I'll clear things up for ya.**

**Lots of déjà vu in this, by the way, so if you've read Faster Than You Think it'll be a nice throwback.**

**Sorry for the wait, by the way – I wanted to get ahead on the next chapter before posting this one since the chapters are getting a bit longer now.**

**Enjoy.**

CHAPTER 9: The Works of Yesterday

"Chaos control!!" Shadow shouted the words, clutching Sonic's Chaos Emerald tightly. There was a flash bright enough to be seen through both pairs of closed eyes, and suddenly the world before them was gone – or rather, they were gone from the world.

Heavy pressure followed; it was like being trapped under water, with no way to float back up to the surface. Or maybe they were the center of gravity now, and everything was being pulled towards _them _instead of the other way around…

At least, that was Sonic's mental analogy. He didn't know that he was right on the mark. Chaos Control had brought them to a place beyond existence, a place where the only gravitational pull belonged to himself and Shadow. The latter, of course, had long since been aware of that.

Sonic's good hand was still locked around the other one's arm firmly, but he didn't tighten his grip. Heaven forbid Shadow think he was worried. He would never hear the end of it.

The strange feeling intensified as seconds slowly passed. Sonic didn't know whether or not he was breathing. He tried not to compare the situation to drowning, but his mind had already done that for him the second they had disappeared from the empire. The empty whiteness still surrounded them, though, and the logic that he was nowhere near water was enough to keep him from panicking.

If you could call Chaos Control logical, anyway.

He opened his eyes and looked down at himself. His vision had adapted enough for him to see his body, and there was nothing surrounding it. It was a sensation without a visible cause.

"It'll burn for a moment." Shadow's smooth, low voice wafted through the air with an accompanying echo.

"Okay," the hedgehog responded back, just to hear if his _own _voice sounded that light and fluffy. As Shadow had said, there was a sudden burning sensation. Sonic's eyes drifted over his blue fur briefly, involuntarily, for assurance that nothing was actually burning him.

Then everything went blurry, the nothingness before them gradually morphing into silver hallway that the cerulean hedgehog recognized as instantly as he would recognize himself in a mirror.

They were dropped onto the floor. Sonic landed on his feet and put one hand on the wall for balance. Shadow shook his arm out of the blue hedgehog's grasp and handed him back the Chaos Emerald.

"Thanks," Sonic muttered, tucking it away in his spines.

"You all right?" Shadow asked with an expression that looked like he could care less.

Sonic chuckled, and a little arrogance spiced his lighthearted tone. "I've been through _far _worse."

"Then lead on, already."

"Okay, okay." Sonic headed slowly towards the room the Chaos Drive was located in; the antidote he had used to heal himself of Eggman's fatal poison. If the time warp had gone correctly, Tails and his past self would be reaching that antidote in a few minutes.

Shadow followed behind, letting out a sigh. He wanted to be back in his own time, figuring out a way to break the barrier… but he knew he had a debt to pay and that he agreed to pay it. It would be worth it anyway. Keeping his word would earn Sonic's trust…

_That way, when he does find a way to take down the barrier, I'll tell him I can fix things if he just gives me the Emeralds… and he'll go along with it because he'll remember I kept my word before. It'll be perfect._

"Shadow…!" Sonic's voice, just above a whisper, suddenly cut through the air.

"Yes."

"Can they hear us or see us at all?" The darker hedgehog followed Sonic's pointed finger. Not too far ahead was a certain hedgehog and a certain fox…

"No."

The blue blur's heart was suddenly pounding. He sped up, making a beeline towards Tails and… himself. "Good." He got closer, not slowing, eyes set intently on his golden-furred friend as the familiar yet distant details filled his vision. How light yet rich those young blue eyes were… the little waves in his fur… those lively bangs that bounced and swung with the smallest stimulus…

And it was so damn _real._

It had been over three months. A quarter of a year. Had he taken the time to think about it, Sonic would have expected a reunion with Tails to be so unbelievable and amazing. He would have expected that weightless feeling, like he was only observing his environment instead of actually being a part of it… or perhaps the opposite of weightless: being unable to hold himself and collapsing to his knees in relief and ecstasy.

What Sonic found instead was that perfect middle ground. He was sane and down-to-earth, feeling nothing but contentment and a little déjà vu. It was as if those long, tormenting months had never even happened. It was as if he was still right there where his past-self was, and this was normal.

Ironically, it was that normalcy, that feeling that everything was just the way it was meant to be, that sent Sonic to cloud nine.

"Sonic…"

Both Sonics looked at the owner of the young voice, one pair of green eyes lighting up with confidence and the other pair opening wide in surprise.

"I can hear you…!" The real-time Sonic breathed. Next to him, Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Of course you can hear him. I said _they_ couldn't hear _us; _that was all."

"Shh!" The hedgehog hissed, stepping closer to the Sonic and Tails from the past. Tails had already continued speaking.

"We should split up, don't you think? How about you check out this room, and I'll check out the one over there?"

"Sure thing, bro," Past-Sonic said. "Let me know if you find anything."

The more updated version of the two hedgehogs turned to Shadow with a shocked expression. "Is that really what my voice sounds like?"

The Ultimate Lifeform blinked, expression empty and uncaring, but there was a subtle insult in his voice as he replied, "Yes."

Sonic blinked as well, then realized Shadow probably hadn't been the best person to ask and promptly fixed his mistake. "Hah, cool!" He said, and turned back to the conversation taking place before them.

"Don't… don't let it pull you under. The poison, I mean." Tails was scratching his arm and looking at the ground. As Sonic took in the words being spoken to his past self, he recalled the painful convulsions that the fox had been referring to.

"It's happened three times," the other Sonic said, shrugging and looking at Tails. "What's one more?"

Sonic couldn't help but grin as he watched his own convincing display of nonchalance. Then he remembered that it hadn't been a display, and he hadn't been trying to convince anyone; he _had_ been that carefree. Fear, pain, the idea of death… none of it had fazed him. At all.

He remembered being interrogated by Eggman's black and gold droids back (forward?) in the present. Fear had not influenced his choices that day – and he was proud of that – but fear _had _been there, more so than it ever had in the past.

Tails's death had opened his eyes to the reality of vulnerability. Maybe the emotional wounds had healed… but they had left scars, and this was one of them. And this one, he realized, was not something he could force to go away. It would only be a façade.

_Maybe I shouldn't want it to go away._

The thought seemed to have an opinion of its own as it voiced itself in his head. But he _did _want it to go away, even if it meant being too reckless… even if it meant putting himself in unnecessary danger… even if it meant throwing away a lesson learned. He only had one life to live, and damn it, he didn't want to spend it letting pain or anxiety bring him down. _He had fun _when a difficult or trying situation was nothing more than a challenge, a test of endurance or willpower… even a game. Being cautious was not fun. Acknowledging vulnerability was not fun.

It wasn't him.

Or… it _hadn't been _him at the time of the scene he was watching. He wasn't entirely sure about the present – or future.

Sonic watched as his former self went to search one room for the antidote while his best friend walked across the hallway and into another. He didn't follow himself – he had been there, he knew what happened – and instead hurried after Tails, making it into the room just before he closed the door.

"What are you doing?" Sonic jumped at the question, having not realized Shadow had joined him.

"I… I don't know. I guess I'm just curious."

Shadow stared at him blankly.

"This is where Tails went—"

"—Obviously—"

"…when I was trying to get to the antidote across the hall. He was in here for about fifteen minutes, and I'm just wondering… if he knew yet what he was going to do," Sonic finished.

"Let himself die?" Shadow's blood-red eyes softened just a little.

"Yeah," the blue hedgehog answered, looking up just in time to witness the rare expression on the other one's face.

"Maria did the same for me. Though… she only had seconds to decide. She never got a chance to weigh the positives and the negatives."

Sonic hesitated, listening as the Ultimate Lifeform opened up, wondering if he should ask for more of the story or if they still hated each other too much for close conversations. Then he remembered Shadow had made him tell _Tails's _entire story.

Still, unlike his darker rival had done, he voiced the question carefully and sympathetically. "How did she pass, Shadow?"

At first, the darker one looked at him coldly, as if to ask, 'How dare you?' Then he looked away, appearing to calm down before he could even get riled up. "She was going to die eventually anyway…" he began, "due to a disease. Sometimes I wonder if that's why the decision was so easy for her, but then I remember how much she cared for me and I realize… she would have done it either way.

"Anyway… I won't make this any longer than I have to. We lived on Space Colony ARK, a research center out in space, with my creator. He was a scientist. People here on Earth grew suspicious of his research, though, and soldiers were sent to halt it."

"Hold up…" Sonic interrupted, quietly but firmly, "who was your creator?"

"If I tell you, you'll make every wrong assumption about me that you can possibly make with your current knowledge."

"I won't judge," Sonic assured, hoping he wouldn't. "Promise."

"Gerald Robotnik… Ivo's grandfather."

Sonic locked his lips shut and directed his gaze away. It landed on Tails, who, of course, was completely oblivious to their presence.

"You're right, I'm making assumptions," Sonic admitted, grinning and wondering if he should be a little ashamed.

"I know enough to be able to say that they're not true. At the very least… disregard them for the sake of the story."

A nod. "Okay, fair enough."

"Soldiers were suspicious of Gerald's research. See… Gerald created me to see if immortality was possible. Seeing as how I haven't aged, I now know that it is… but he never had the chance to save Maria with it. If the soldiers had waited just a few more weeks, perhaps she would be here with me right now, cured of her disease and still as young as I am."

"Ahh—!" Sonic gave a fast, sharp scream. He had quickly put together what had ended Maria's life prematurely, and upon this realization, both fists had clenched in anger – including his broken hand. Shadow watched his chest constrict as he sank to his knees, unable to breathe.

"S-sorry for the interruption," the hedgehog stammered after a moment, voice strained. An apologetic smile was on his face as he got back up. "Sort of forgot my hand was broken. Aw, and it'd finally stopped hurting, too."

"Allow me to fix it so I don't have to listen to your complaints."

That was Shadow's way of caring.

"I tried a little while before I saw you in the city, but it didn't work for some reason. I mean, I know Chaos Emeralds can heal serious injuries, 'cause my friend Knuckles used them to heal me before, and I healed someone's bullet wound not too long ago…"

"This Emerald is somewhat weak right now. It's extremely difficult to heal complicated injuries like this as it is, even with a fully charged one," explained Shadow.

"Will it have enough energy to take us back to the present if we do this?"

"Yes. It still has plenty; it's just harder to put to use when it's been used a lot already. Now come over here."

Sonic did, glancing at Tails on the way. His knees were hugged to his chest, and his nervous gaze was set on the opposite wall, as it had been since they had entered the room.

"I won't heal it completely, as we want this Chaos Emerald to _continue _to have plenty of energy. Let me know when the pain stops."

Sonic lifted his arm, a green glow already surrounding his glove. A few seconds passed, during which he felt his bones shift back to their regular positions. It didn't hurt; it was more like a firm massage. When he felt that the extremity would be able to heal properly, he told Shadow to stop.

"Thanks. I didn't really want to be stuck with a deformed hand for the rest of my life."

"Whatever. At any rate… I'm guessing you've figured it out by now."

"Yeah. So… a soldier shot her?"

"Yes." Shadow's eyes closed, and creating words was suddenly a struggle for him. "As… as she was dying, she… sent me to Earth in a capsule. She let me escape. I was the only thing that could have saved her life."

There was a moment of complete silence. Then, for the first time, the eight-year-old fox sitting against the wall behind them made a sound. Sonic whirred around to see what he had missed all those months ago, to see just what Tails had done or said while he was alone in that room.

He was crying.

"Oh God…" Sonic said, voice cracking. "Tails, why did you do this to yourself?"

Shadow stood beside Sonic, face unreadable. "He's selfless like Maria."

The two hedgehogs met eyes, and for one moment, they were not enemies… they had never fought. For one moment, they were two regular people with something in common, empathizing with each other's deepest sorrows.

"Let's go. Do what you need to do."

Sonic's heart broke for the fox as he glanced at him one last time. On his way out of the room, he considered reaching out to ruffle those bangs, just to see if he could actually feel them. He almost did, but Shadow pushed him gently in the direction of the door, and he decided to leave the fox to his privacy.

Neither of them looked at each other for several minutes. Both minds were experiencing varying levels of emotional torment, both minds were shielded by awkwardness… both minds needed quiet.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Sonic broke the silence.

"Shadow… we need to go back further," the blue blur said, and that was all it took for the atmosphere to shift back to normal.

"Now you tell me." The irritated glower was on the Ultimate Lifeform's face as if it had never left.

Sonic shrugged. "I'm sorry. I had the wrong place in mind when we Chaos Controlled. I thought I could take the Chaos Drive from myself and give it to Tails…"

"That would kill you."

"Exactly. If… if that's the only way to fix things, then I'll do it, but I want to try everything else that I can try first." The hedgehog's expression grew determined and then reluctant as he spoke. "I… don't want to die. Not if I don't have to."

"You _don't _have to. That's your choice."

"You know what I mean."

Shadow sighed. "I can only take you back in time so much. Don't waste the Emerald's energy… or my patience, Faker."

"Okay. I think I know how we have to do this, now. We have to go back to a point in time before Tails and I were injected." Sonic stared at a wall, looking at it but not really seeing it as he traveled backward in his mind. "The night we thought we defeated Zorro… he came back and knocked us out, and we didn't wake up until six months later."

"You were comatose for six months?" Shadow's tone was silky smooth as usual, and not nearly as surprised as Sonic thought it should have been, but it was curious, if nothing else.

"Eggman had us that way while the poison was working its magic. In retrospect… the only reason I think we actually woke up was because he realized Tails got poisoned too, and he hadn't meant for that to happen. He wanted us to find the one antidote he made 'cause he thought I'd make Tails take it, and then I would die, just as planned." Sonic's face grew bitter as he recalled just how wrong that plan had gone.

Shadow said dully, "You already told me this part."

"Fine, let's go," the hedgehog snapped, finding himself irritated at Shadow's tactlessness.

"Do you have the place and time in your head?" The striped hedgehog asked. Sonic knew that he was purposely stalling to annoy him; he hadn't even bothered to ask that last time.

"The workshop at night, ten or so months ago, _yes, _I'm holding on tight" – Sonic purposely gripped the other hedgehog's arm hard enough to stop the flow of blood – "_yes_, I'm calm… Chaos control!"

There was just enough time for Shadow to shoot Sonic an incredulous look. Then, to the surprise of both hedgehogs, Sonic's impulsive command finally succeeded, and they were gone in a flash of light once again.

It was in the middle of the warp that things went horrendously wrong.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**In the next chapter: **_**"Are you telling me I have an anxiety disorder!?"**_** Sonic never told anybody that he had hardly any recollection of getting stabbed in the Dome Base over half a year ago. He never told anybody that the only reason he was able to put it together was because Tails had talked to him about it in the days after its occurrence. In an unplanned twist of events, however, he has the opportunity to see for himself…**

**This is unrelated, but if anybody's interested, I put up a one-shot called "When Enough Isn't Enough" recently. Sonic and Tails are the main characters, so most of you would enjoy it, and it focuses on Sonic's intense fear of water and his attempts to overcome it. It's quite dramatic, actually. Check it out if it sounds like something you might like. ;)**

**Anyway, see you all next time. Thanks for reading and commenting as much as you all have; it's appreciated.**

**By the way, what's everyone think of this new Project Needlemouse announcement? (Yeah, it was over two months ago, but I forgot to ask in the last chapter.) For the sake of my own sanity, I won't go into detail about why it angers me… but if you love the characters like I do, you probably already understand.**


	10. Ch 10: The Gap Between Memories

I had planned on returning to the fanfiction website this week. It just occurred to me yesterday that today is Sonic's b-day! How awesome is that, perfect time to finally update this story.

**-EVERYONE WHO READS MY FANFICTION HAS MY SINCERE APOLOGY.** Aside from needing a break, as many authors do now and then, I actually did have a legitimate personal reason for being gone for so long. Several of you PMed me asking about this story, and I told a few of you about that reason. I don't want to broadcast it for everyone who ever looks at this to see, but if you want to know, feel free to PM me. I offer you that option so that you know I am not making up an excuse.

Having said that, I could have easily updated the story with an author's note saying that I would be back and that I was sorry this was taking so long. It was rude of me not to do so. I have many readers who have stuck with this series for years, and it is unfair to them as well as the rest of you.

I am and always have been completely determined to finish this story. I am a writer at heart and I love doing it. I am so glad to be back, and I really do wish I hadn't been gone so long. This kind of sucks for me, too, because I know that quite a few people probably will not come back just because it's been so long. I hope to see a lot of you return to finish this story with me, though.

**-TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY…** here's what happened in recent chapters: Sonic saved Shadow from being trapped under the debris of a fallen building, on the condition that Shadow take him to the past so he can save Tails. Of course, one needs a Chaos Emerald to teleport to the past. Sonic has one, fortunately, in case you don't remember. He fought Rouge for it earlier in the story. Five other Chaos Emeralds are anchoring a barrier created by Eggman to contain his empire. The last Emerald, however, is in an unknown location… but Sonic's not worried about that right now, he just wants to go back in time to prevent Tails's death. I'm sure you all remember that tragedy at the end of Faster Than You Think; it's been a while, but not THAT long.

In this chapter, Sonic and Shadow will go back in time… but not to where they planned. Something goes awry with Chaos Control, and they wind up appearing in the Dome Base… right around the time the past Sonic and Tails fought Zorro for the last time. You know, that epic scene where Sonic got stabbed. Most of you were around for that, but if not, you'll get a taste of it in this chapter.

To all of you who are reading this right now…

Enjoy! :)

**CHAPTER 10: The Gap Between Memories**

"You can cause Chaos Control…" Shadow whispered under his breath, acknowledging the fact with a perfect blend of calm and surprise. The empty atmosphere thickened as it had last time, seeming to squeeze both hedgehogs tightly in its fiery embrace. "I've… never known anybody aside from myself with that ability."

Sonic closed his eyes to shield himself from the overwhelming intensity of the light around them, hearing Shadow but not really listening. "Why is it so much brighter than before?"

He didn't need to open his eyes to be aware of the typical annoyed glare on the darker hedgehog's face; he could feel it rippling through the hot air. "You're the one who caused this, Faker. You tell me."

"Are we… did I do this right? What do I do from here?"

"Were you picturing the place we need to go when you said the words?"

The dreadful silence of hesitation might as well have answered the question, but Sonic did anyway. "I was… irritated at you when I said the words," he said honestly, "and I'm not sure if I was all that focused, but I…"

"Do you feel how badly it burns right now?" Shadow interrupted.

"More than enough without the reminder, thanks," the blue blur answered dryly.

"That's your frustration with me. That's the despair lingering from seeing Tails; from having your cake and not being able to eat it, too. Negative emotions that you should have known to control better," Shadow explained impatiently. "Allow me to fix your thoughtless mistake."

"Tell me what's happening," Sonic said levelly, raising a hand in front of his still closed eyes to block out the brightness that managed to sneak in through the lids. "Will we still be taken to the right place?"

"Be quiet, Sonic," the Ultimate Lifeform commanded, and the blue hedgehog heard the seriousness in his tone. Shadow had even used his real name instead of an insult.

This was bad.

_Workshop… _he made the thought pass through his distracted mind, over and over. _Workshop, workshop, workshop._ If he could only picture it, remember all those details… If he could only direct that imagery towards the Chaos Emerald and get it to listen to him…

"Stop it. I said leave this to me."

Those jade eyes opened wide to look at the irritated hedgehog next to him as the owner of said eyes became somewhat irritated himself. He instantly regretted it and squeezed them shut again, hoping he hadn't damaged his vision. It actually _hurt_.

"Shadow… you don't even know where I wanted to go, and you've never even been inside," he began to argue, and his own voice was hardly audible amidst the chaotic emptiness around him. He struggled on with his words, determined to fix the problem he had created. "Let me try to fix this; at least I have the picture in my mind."

"Because that helped loads last time," the other one shot back lividly.

"I'm as fast of a learner as I am a runner. I can figure this out."

"I'm not convinced."

A frustrated growl came from Sonic's throat, so quiet that one would have to wonder if they'd heard it at all. "Then you're about to be!" He said determinedly. "I'm trying this, whether you like it or not."

Following the hedgehog's resolute words, something in the atmosphere loosened… though it was so subtle that neither hedgehog noticed it at first. And then, as Sonic and Shadow concentrated on the objective, the universe gradually darkened to its normal tone until all that was left were the dots behind both pairs of eyelids.

Sonic dared to open his first. "Shadow…" he breathed in relief, gazing at the sight before him. Miraculously, they had regained control of the Emerald midway through the teleportation… and made it to somewhere familiar. It wasn't the destination he had wanted, but at least he knew where and when he was. Before them, of all places, was the Dome Base, just as enormous and intimidating as he remembered it. But that wasn't the only reason for the astounded and significantly shocked expression on the blue blur's face. His voice quieted when he spoke next, but the emotion it contained was loud.

"So much has happened here."

"Shall we go?" His voice was impatient but seemed to be trying for some small amount of sensitivity. Sonic had handled the subject of Maria with respect and cautiousness… and even though Shadow's dislike of the other hedgehog bordered on hate, he decided not to torment him any more than he already had. For the time being, anyway.

"Yeah…"

Neither of them moved, despite their agreement to do so. "I must guess that this is where you lost him."

Sonic blinked and looked up. "No. But just because Tails's death was the worst thing that ever happened to me… doesn't mean that nasty things never happened before that."

Appearing to understand the gist of his rival's words, if nothing else, Shadow nodded. "I see. Does this place bother you?"

Sonic smiled a natural, genuine smile. "Not at all. You'll find I don't waste a lot of time focusing on things that have happened in the past." He paused, watching the black hedgehog's eyebrows raise. "No, seriously. Tails was the exception to that rule. You change when someone close to you is taken away. Someone like you would understand that…?"

"I would," Shadow allowed.

"I meant it when I said you didn't know me… even if using that wording was kind of beating a dead horse," Sonic added as an afterthought.

Shadow had no argument. Instead, he nodded in agreement. "Everybody changes when they're grieving," he conceded. "However… that doesn't mean I'll like you any more now than I did before."

"I don't care," was the blue blur's nonchalant response. He winked. Shadow rolled his eyes.

There was silence as Sonic continued to take in the surroundings and Shadow folded his arms. Then, the latter of the two asked the question that had been itching in his mind throughout their entire conversation.

"What happened here?"

Sonic turned back to him, an eye ridge raising in mild surprise. It wasn't often that Shadow asked questions out of mere curiosity. "You want to know?"

Not bothering to voice the obvious answer, Shadow just shrugged and let his arms drop to his sides. The two hedgehogs held each other's gaze for a moment.

"It started probably two years ago. It's kind of a long story – and I'm not just saying that, some things really _are _long stories – but I wound up trapped here."

"Do you know how to get in?"

"It's only locked from the inside. The metal doors not too far ahead should be open." The blue blur motioned for Shadow to follow, covering the distance between himself and the building in long strides. No doubt was intermingled with the confidence in his expression, and if he hadn't begun to answer Shadow's question as he walked, the black hedgehog would have had no reason to think that Sonic had gone through some of the worst experiences of his life inside that giant sphere.

"…I was here for quite a few months. Eggman kept me trapped in a cell most of the time. I had a few chances to explore the place, but there was some trap or other waiting around every corner, so it wasn't quite as fun as your average sightseeing trip. Later on, I ended up with two broken legs. And Eggman shot me with something that paralyzed me from the neck down for a while. I only got out because of – guess who? – Tails."

They entered the base. Shadow drew in a breath to speak, then paused, realizing Sonic wasn't even done yet.

"After that, he and I ended up back here again to take down Zorro. It was… crazy. That was when I got stabbed through the chest."

Coming to a halt, Shadow folded his arms. A few steps later, Sonic stopped too, realizing that his black lookalike was no longer right next to him. He turned around to a very skeptical stare.

"And lived," Shadow said, a 'yeah sure' expression on his face. "Where's the mark? I cannot say I believe you without the scar to prove it."

One corner of Sonic's mouth twitched in the slightest; what that split-second expression meant, Shadow couldn't tell. "We're going to have front row seats for it very soon," Sonic said, not appearing thrilled about the idea but not appearing particularly bothered, either. "So you don't really have to believe me right now."

"Fair enough," the darker hedgehog said, and his tone of voice made it perfectly clear that he would hold Sonic to that. "This place is very… silver."

"Sorta blinding, isn't it?" The hedgehog asked, content with the change of subject. "Eggman sure likes metal."

The pair walked right through a wall of sensory lasers and past several sleeping robots, going completely unnoticed, of course. Sonic knew, though, that his former self wasn't having such an easy time up ahead…

"Hah, poor guy."

"What?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Never mind, Shadow."

Both hedgehogs walked in relative silence for some minutes, moving at a steady clip but not rushing. They were 'early' anyway – by several hours, Sonic realized. Until his past self and Tails finished fighting Zorro and went back to the workshop, he could do nothing.

As if reading Sonic's mind, the Ultimate Lifeform suddenly asked, "What is your plan, anyhow?"

When the hedgehog didn't answer in what Shadow figured to be a normal response time, he looked over to see why. To his annoyance, it didn't appear that Sonic had even heard him – or if he had, he was doing a damn good job of pretending otherwise. His eyes were set forward, incredibly focused, and his arms swung mechanically as he continued to walk. Maybe it was his imagination, but Shadow swore he was slowing down.

Just as the dark hedgehog drew in a breath to repeat his question, glaring as was typical of him, Sonic apparently registered that he'd been spoken to and met his eyes. "Uh, I'll tell you about that in a few," he said simply, and there was something off about his voice. Not necessarily something wrong, but something _off_. "We're almost there. Tails and I should be in the next area right about now…"

"Hold up," Shadow demanded, realization striking him. He grasped Sonic's shoulder and turning him around. "Didn't you mention something about the fox's workshop before we teleported? What brought us _here_ in the first place? This doesn't look like any mere workshop."

Something faltered in those cool, jade eyes.

"…That's what I thought, too," Sonic said quietly. "I guess the Chaos Emeralds figured there was something else I wanted to do before going there. As soon as I realized we appeared outside this place, it hit me what it was."

"What's that?"

The blue blur turned away, quills swinging with the motion, and began to run toward his destination. Both of them knew that running wouldn't help him get away from Shadow if the hedgehog really wanted to stop him… but both of them also knew that there was something particularly important about this little detour. Shadow, though silently frustrated, pursued his rival without threat or complaint.

Something about the situation had struck a chord – that much was clear. But if Sonic wanted to elaborate, then Sonic would elaborate. Until then, Shadow would simply observe with his arms crossed, as always.

Their jog lasted no more than ten seconds. The blue blur came to a sudden halt mere yards from the large doorframe that was his destination. Standing there were the two individuals he had known would be there: Tails and himself.

_I cannot believe this is happening._

"So what?" He heard his past self say to the fox. "Tails, you have the Emerald right in your hands. Nothing bad's going to happen."

How wrong he was, Sonic realized in retrospect.

"I know," Tails responded. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

Still standing next to Shadow, the current Sonic barely managed to stifle a cry. This… this was really happening! An oddly irrational part of his being yearned to reach out to Tails and to the identical blue hedgehog in front of him and hold them both back, let them know what was coming first… Yet at the same time, his logical side knew better. Terrible things were about to happen, but he knew from experience that they would turn out okay.

"You feel very connected to this, don't you?" Shadow noticed. "It's not very often that one gets to watch one of the most dramatic moments of their life replayed for them as if on tape."

Sonic nodded in agreement, but didn't take his eyes off the hedgehog and fox in front of him. He couldn't. It was like a horror movie… wanting to stop the characters from stupidly moving forward, but knowing deep inside that they were going to anyway… no matter how much your heart pounded, or how close you moved to the edge of your seat, or how tense your muscles were, or how loudly you _screamed_…

The pair before them walked into what he distinctly remembered to be Upper Area Four, Tails leading the way and himself following closely behind. Although time didn't really slow down, it sure felt that way as he saw Zorro lunge forward out of nowhere, detaching that blade of a tail and thrusting it toward his fox friend's back.

And for a split second, it looked like it was going to make contact.

But in that split second, Sonic knew better as he watched himself lunge impulsively toward Zorro in a frantic attempt to redirect the attack… a frantic attempt that worked, but with tremendous consequences.

In an instant of unlikely clumsiness, those gloved hands failed to push that blade in a safe direction. Instead, Sonic watched as the blade plunged inevitably into his own chest, tearing out his back with a sickening rip.

Silence.

There was no word uttered, no dramatic movie-style collapse, no bloodcurdling scream of pain. He just fell forward into his own lake of blood, inadvertently forcing the blade further into himself.

"Sonic."

Gently tapping the eardrums of the_ living_ form of the blue hedgehog was Shadow's voice, solemn but calm.

At first, Sonic ignored the address in favor of watching the consequences of the scene before him. Then he realized that watching Tails's reaction was even worse than watching himself get brutally stabbed. The blank, empty stare in his eyes… then the sudden waterfall of tears… and the insane, twisted shouts at the atmosphere that sounded nothing like his best friend.

The hedgehog blinked and turned away, finding himself looking at Shadow's unreadable face. "…Yeah?"

Shadow stepped forward, a hand reaching out toward Sonic's chest for a reason that the blue hedgehog was too paralyzed to understand. He didn't know that he was holding a hand over his heart – where his past self had just gotten stabbed – until the black hedgehog touched it and gently encouraged it back to Sonic's side.

"This is what brought you here." It wasn't a question. "It appears as though the Chaos Emeralds tapped into a desire you weren't even consciously aware of during our teleportation. I know that can happen with someone inexperienced, but why? What brings you back to something like this? I don't understand."

Sonic breathed. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his head and stopped at the corner of his mouth. "I do," he said quietly, making no move to wipe it away. "I understand what the Chaos Emeralds found in me. Shadow… I never remembered what happened… until now. I knew because Tails reflected on it afterwards, and he said enough for me to put together the pieces. But I never _remembered_. I didn't remember being stabbed, or transforming with the Super Emeralds, or when Tails pulled that thing out of my chest. The memories just… weren't quite there. I couldn't understand why." He looked away, then added, "Nobody knows that about me. Tails never even realized it."

Understanding dawned in Shadow's eyes. "Post-traumatic stress," he said, and Sonic nodded.

"I don't get it, though. I mean, not to toot my own horn…"

"Whatever you say…"

"…but I don't usually _get _really freaked about things, and never to the point where my brain blocks it out. Everybody stresses sometimes, but I'm... I mean, that's kind of extreme."

Shadow scrutinized him for a moment. "You mean to tell me you felt perfectly fine watching that whole thing? Your body language a few seconds ago certainly told me otherwise."

The awkward expression on Sonic's face changed to a defensive glare. "Of course it wasn't pleasant, watching it or actually having it happen, but… to the point where I had an…" Sonic paused, thinking about the notion that _he, _of all people, had a problem with post-traumatic stress. "…An anxiety disorder?" He paused, visibly cringing as he heard himself suggesting the notion. "No. That doesn't even make _sense_.I never so much as lost sleep because of it!"

"Your ego doesn't like this," Shadow said obviously. The blue blur's temper flared, and it took everything he had not to charge forward and pick another fight with his darker rival. Shadow merely sighed, shaking his head. "It would have happened to _anybody_ in your situation. That's just how the mind works. Now stop arguing with me and let's get out of here; I have better ways to waste my time."

"No, wait!"

The Ultimate Lifeform had turned around to walk away; now he faced Sonic again, only to find he had wandered all the way into area U4. "I don't think so, hedgehog. We're leaving."

"No! I want to remember what happened that day," Sonic insisted, looking over his shoulder, and he was more serious than Shadow had ever seen him. "We're already here, and it's not like the time period we need is going anywhere. Besides, I'm cool with this." He met Shadow's irritated stare with his suddenly composed expression, then whirred back around somewhat defiantly, spikes swinging with the movement. This was his only chance to understand exactly what happened that day, to have the memory of just how Tails saved his life.

For once, Shadow gave in.

Before them, the Sonic from the past was moaning in agony, and something crazy was beginning to happen to his fur. Somewhere on the other side of the area, Tails had just transformed with the Super Emeralds and hurled Zorro into a wall. Before either member of the audience could say anything else, the Sonic on the ground said a single word in a hoarse voice.

"Tails…"

Everything happened fast after that. The Chaos-charged fox was suddenly at the injured Sonic's side, mumbling a "No way" of disbelief and draining his powers so that Sonic could draw on them. The fewest of tears were shed amongst the pair, Sonic's caused by physical pain and Tails's by fear, but both were holding the floods at bay for the sake of the other.

"Are you _alive?_" The fox's shaky voice managed to ask.

"Thanks to them," came the raspy reply, hardly audible though the room was silent. He was referring to the Super Emeralds. "Can't move. Pull it out…"

From yards away, Sonic and Shadow watched the frantic exchange of words. Tails was more afraid than he had ever been before, and Past-Sonic was struggling to keep it together and encourage the young fox. After several more questions, assurances, and grimaces of pain, the kitsune wrapped his shaky hands around the bloody blade and gave it the slightest of tugs. Sonic gave no visible response as the blade shifted in his flesh.

"Can you maybe… open your eyes for me?" The fox child asked, looking nervous and desperate. "Sorry. You just looked… dead, for a second, there."

Sonic had to move several strides closer to the scene to see if his past self actually opened his eyes or not. After a second, one blue lid flinched open in the slightest, the watery green oval beneath looking down at his bleeding torso.

Tails suddenly spoke with solid resolve. "I'm not going to let you down Sonic, not ever again." Sonic responded that he had never let him down in the first place. Then his voice grew louder as he made the fox promise he would pull the blade free, no matter how loud he screamed or anything.

Every few seconds, the fox would try to make himself follow through on that promise. But, afraid to hurt his friend, he would stop before the blade ever moved significantly. Past-Sonic groaned in frustration at Tails' hesitance. Tails looked at his eyes, finally realizing he was causing Sonic even more unnecessarypain in his attempt to do the opposite. The fox decided that enough was enough.

They both released loud, agonized wails as Tails tore the blade out of Sonic's flesh.

Yards away, the real Sonic finally understood the intense trauma of situation, finally understood why his mind hadn't allowed him to remember it.

He remembered now.

He remembered the emotions between himself and Tails; the terror, the frustration, and the trust. He remembered the agony. He remembered looking through the window of Tails' blue eyes and seeing the fear that lie behind them.

He remembered the relief as his nearly fatal wound was healed by the power of the Super Emeralds. He remembered seeing a reflection of that relief in his friend's eyes, along with love and admiration and a hint of self-pride.

He remembered their embrace, and the magical quality that embrace had; a quality that could only be felt by people as close as brothers. But he had never forgotten that part to begin with.

For the first time in at least half an hour, Sonic pulled his gaze away from the past and looked back to the present – literally. He looked at Shadow just in time to see him turn his head away, as if he had hardly been interested at all. Sonic knew better.

"I'm ready now."

Shadow pushed off the wall, where he had been leaning casually, and tossed the Chaos Emerald up a few times in his hand, catching it each time without looking at it. "Where are we going now?"

"Tails's workshop, like we were going to do," Sonic replied. "Different time, though," he said, nodding at the Chaos Emerald, indicating they'd need it. "We need to go forward quite a few months, to a point a little while after Tails tricked me into taking the antidote. It'll be cutting it close, but if I go and find another antidote while the _other _me is wasting time telling Knuckles what happened, I can bring it back in time to save him."

"Weren't we just in that area of time?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, and when we Chaos Controlled last time, all I meant to do was go forward a few days so that I could do that plan I just told you about. But…" he gestured to Upper Area Four behind him, trailing off.

"But you got sidetracked," Shadow muttered.

"It wasn't my fault!" Sonic said defensively. "I can't help it if the Chaos Emeralds tap into my subconscious."

"You're right. You can't. Because you fail at Chaos Control."

The blue blur glared. "At least I can actually teleport. You're more amazed by that than you're letting on – I know you are."

"You don't know anything," Shadow snapped. "Quit pretending you do, Faker, or this journey is over. I'll leave you right here if you don't quit pissing me off."

They both knew he wouldn't, but Sonic let him get away with the threat. Shrugging off the argument, he switched the subject back to the matter at hand. "Okay, so, you do the Chaos Controlling, and I'll do the thinking that'll get us there. Want to try it that way?"

The Ultimate Life-form stopped tossing the Emerald and clutched it tightly in his hand, preparing to teleport. "I suppose it can't bring us any more disaster than the last few methods have." He smirked when Sonic's glare returned and deepened. "Check your temper this time."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chaos Control landed them about a mile away from the workshop. With the sun only at its zenith, Sonic knew they had plenty of time before Tails and his past counterpart returned to the workshop, and even longer before his fox friend would succumb to the fatal poison.

"Do you have a plan? Or do you arrogantly believe you're fast enough to search the whole world before dusk?"

"I'm working on that," Sonic mumbled, wishing he had a comeback. The black hedgehog was getting awfully good with retorts lately, and he didn't like it. But there were more important things, he figured, than fighting battles of vocabulary.

They walked for a few minutes while Sonic thought. The next time Shadow spoke, the blue blur was relieved to hear that it wasn't another annoying quip, but something of a compliment, for once.

"I admit," he began, not making eye contact, "a normal person could not have held on long enough after a stab like that to be able to draw on Chaos energy."

"I've always known I was abnormal."

For the first time in his life, Sonic heard Shadow chuckle. As the darker hedgehog realized he had just displayed _happiness _– heaven forbid – the humor quickly diminished and the typical frown was back on his face. "Who are you, really?"

The blue blur merely shrugged. "What you see's what you get." His lighthearted complexion grew a little more bold at the edges. "Guess I'm not as much of a 'faker' as you thought."

"I suppose you're not," Shadow conceded, acknowledging Sonic's statement with something like respect. _But it's just too bad for you that I am._

**I will be back in regular update time with the next chapter! With summertime upon us, I plan to have this story completed and updated as normal without interruption. Have a fantastic day and please review.**


	11. Ch 11: Darkest Before Dawn

Indeed, it is good to be back. The chapters in the second half of this story are easier to write than the first half so far. I'm already working on 13, so 12 will certainly be up on time. I think it's because all of the required set-up is out of the way and now the story is focusing solely on the main plot… which, obviously, is about saving Tails and halting the progress of Eggman's empire.

Don't get me wrong; all the other chapters were necessary in their own way, whether it be to set up things that are going to happen now or to show some character development. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm having a lot of fun typing right now, and I hope the rest of this story is just as intriguing to the readers as it is to me.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 11: Darkest Before Dawn

"I've come to know that thinking things through isn't a particular talent of yours, so you best heed these words as you try to find a Chaos Drive: altering any events of this time might drastically change our present time. Every little thing you do has the potential for large consequences."

Sonic came to a halt and turned to stare into Shadow's serious face. "It's bad enough already with the empire, isn't it?" The blue hedgehog asked. "This can't possibly make things any worse."

Black and red quills swayed slightly as the Ultimate Life-form shook his head. "That's how it appears. Things can always be worse." Sonic felt as if he was being talked down to, like a child, as the other hedgehog scolded him. "You, of all people, should know that life isn't that predictable. For all we know, this could lead to a chain of events that will have you long dead in the present. And if you suddenly don't exist after we teleport back to the empire, you won't be able to help anybody. That includes all the victims of the Eggman Empire that you claim to care about, and that includes Tails." _And that includes myself._

Sonic sighed loudly. "Shad, how come you don't tell me all this beforehand? We had a deal. You're supposed to be helping me."

"Because I thought you were bright enough to work it out for yourself. And as far as I remember, I agreed to take you to the past. I did not agree to help you."

For a moment, the blue hedgehog thought about what Shadow had said before, weighing the options. A moment later, he said, "I haven't done everything I've done in this life by avoiding risks. I won't start now. This is a chance I'm going to take."

"You still haven't told me how."

Suddenly, Sonic knew exactly how. Feeling the workings of a plan coming together in his head, he looked off into the sky. "For one thing, I know that more Chaos Drives definitely do exist." Shadow didn't ask how he knew, figuring he would go on to explain. He did. "A while back, Eggman managed to find me without having a Chaos Emerald. He knew where I was before even approaching me, and set up a field of robots to trap me so he could fight me. That was how I ended up with the broken hand."

"You think he used the Chaos energy in a Chaos Drive to track you down."

"Exactly. But we don't even have to find Eggman to find a Chaos Drive…" Sonic pointed to where he had been gazing. "Grand Metropolis is that way, in the sky. Eggman kept us imprisoned there for six months out of the seven we were poisoned. The place floats. How do you imagine it stays afloat?"

Shadow folded his arms. "Chaos Emeralds," he said. "You seem to have forgotten they play a part in all this. Don't disregard them."

"Not possible," the blue blur said in a tone that let Shadow know he had been prepared for that argument. "Five Emeralds are part of the barrier, and we have the sixth. There's only one left out there, and even if it is on Grand Metropolis, one Chaos Emerald alone can't hold a whole city. The liquid energy that flows through Grand Metropolis's roads is coming from somewhere else. It's coming from Chaos Drives. Eggman must have reserved energy from the Emeralds a long time ago, and planned to use that energy to keep the city afloat. The Chaos Emeralds themselves have regenerated that lost energy by now, but the Chaos Drives still have the energy they were granted.

"I can't waste any more time. Shadow, can you make me visible in this world? I need to communicate with Tails when I see him. I have to make sure he drinks the antidote when I get it."

"You're lucky I don't give a damn about our present," Shadow said. "Because you're increasing your chance of screwing it up… if you didn't already."

"I won't get caught," Sonic assured him. "Shadow… I honestly believe that what we do here can't make it any worse. If it does, I'll just find a way to fix it."

Shadow sighed, then did a silent Chaos Control. He nodded that he had done what Sonic had requested.

Sonic held out his hand and Shadow tossed him the Emerald, though hesitantly. "I just need it to teleport up to Grand Metropolis. I can handle that much."

Shadow watched the blue blur disappear in a gust of wind. Dirt and grass swirled around him in a whoosh before settling back to the ground.

It didn't take Sonic long to reach the grounds beneath airborne city. He had never noticed before because he hadn't been looking for it, but the Emerald was slightly warmer to the touch. He wondered if it was because there were Chaos Drives near by.

Driven by thoughts of his adopted little brother, Sonic closed his eyes and said, "Chaos Control."

Hardly anything happened. There were no intense sensations, no white lights. All he felt was a brief hot sensation, as if the Emerald had tried to teleport him and then had been interrupted just as it was about to succeed. When he opened his eyes, though, he was standing in the middle of the industrial but majestic Grand Metropolis. He smiled at the small triumph.

He was getting better at this.

…Or it was just easier because he was only warping through space, not time. He wasn't sure which, but either way, he was somewhat proud of how easily he had manipulated Chaos energy.

Sonic could see through the transparent blue path beneath him. There were clear pipes on the sides with a bright red liquid gushing through them. The energy gave the street a certain pull to it; he was moving forward without walking. It was the same energy that kept the city afloat. The same energy that came from Chaos Drives stored long ago. Hexagonal skyscrapers stood tall all around him. Minions, most robotic but some human, wandered all over the place. All in all, the city hadn't changed dramatically since he had last been there.

He wondered where to start.

There had to be streets that had energy pulling from the opposite direction, so that people could travel either way. He wondered if all the red energy came from one source, or two, since there had to be two directions. He supposed it didn't matter. Where a source was, there were likely to be Chaos Drives, too. If he was to reach it, he would have to run in the opposite direction the street wanted him to; that's where the red liquid was coming from.

He recalled being in an area with Tails once that had so much of the bright red energy, it had looked like nothing so much as a huge pool of lava. It had been right after he had woken up from being in a coma, and he had carried the still unconscious Tails through most of Grand Metropolis to get out. It had been on that arduous journey that they had encountered the giant structure. But that had been the outlet; where all of it went to after it travelled through the pipe system on the streets. There, it was probably sent back to the beginning for reuse. The energy he needed would be in the outlet area, but he couldn't very well pick up the stuff with his own hands and carry it back. He needed the containers that had been created to store it; the container of a Chaos Drive.

Already facing the other way, he began running against the current of energy beneath him. It took him a few minutes to build up speedy momentum. He had to work the muscles in his legs several times as hard as normal. He clenched his fists with the effort, then flinched, the pain reminding him of his sore hand. It was still finishing up the healing process, even though Shadow had sped up the bulk of it with Chaos energy. He wrung it out, shaking the ache away as he continued to accelerate. It was getting easier by the second. Running was his element.

Even though Sonic couldn't quite reach the sound barrier, it took him less than five minutes to get to the end of the monumental city. Once there, he slowed his pace to match that of the current of energy so that he would remain in the same spot. The effect was rather treadmill-like. Not too far ahead of him, the street dropped off into an enormous glass pit. The pipes descended into the hot energy in that pit, drawing the stuff up out of it. Just before that, on the side of the street, a simple, rectangular building appeared to be floating of its own accord. There was what looked like an automatic door facing the street.

At first, Sonic was surprised and a little suspicious. It seemed to him like there should be more protection in an area like this. Why were there not several minions guarding the area, so the energy supply couldn't be interfered with? Then he realized why. Thee energy current of the street went in the opposite direction; nobody was supposed to be able to get to where he was. There would be no need for such guards.

He grinned in spite of himself. Eggman had forgotten one crucial detail: him. Even geniuses made mistakes.

Sonic approached the area. The doors slid open, allowing entrance. He hopped over the red pipe and landed inside the building.

There were thousands upon Chaos Drives in front of him, laying on their sides, stacked on top of each other. They came in every color he had ever seen, and each had a slight glow, just like the Emeralds. The cause of the glow was the liquefied Chaos energy. There was another substance in the tubes; it was a clear, thin sheet that laid on top of the red stuff like oil on water. Sonic had never known what it was, only that it was responsible in part for giving his life back to him. He would make sure it did the same for Tails.

For the first time, he stopped to wonder just why there was another substance mixed in with the Chaos energy anyway. It had never mattered before, and he supposed it didn't matter now, but what was the point? Aside from being an antidote, the energy of Chaos Drives was what kept the city afloat. Perhaps, he thought, the oily layer was some kind of storage preservative. Perhaps it was needed to keep the energy potent now that it was away from the Chaos Emeralds.

It could have been so easy, all along, Sonic thought. It was so ironic that the antidote to the poison he and Tails had been cursed with was in the place they had woken up in the first place. He realized that it was a genius idea. Eggman had counted on them not suspecting the cure to be in front of their noses.

He taken long enough to catch on, but at least it was not too late.

His blood turned to ice as he realized how easily it could _become _too late. Trying to stay calm, he snatched a Chaos Drive, then grabbed several more for good measure, stuffing all but one in his quills. It would be safer, he figured, to hold onto one. It wasn't very often something fell out of the storage area that was his quills, but if there was anything that would fall out, it was something small and smooth like a Chaos Drive. He couldn't risk such a thing, not when he was finally so close.

In a moment of frantic impulsiveness, Sonic leapt over the edge of the road.

It wasn't very often he willingly jumped thousands of feet. He had never pulled off such a landing without hurting himself somewhere, he recalled… but he had always pulled it off without dying.

That was Sonic's way of thinking.

He spread out his arms and legs to slow his fall as much as he could. Then, as he neared the ground, he pulled all four limbs inward and pressed his chin to his chest. As his speed increased, he tightened his ball-form and began to spin. Feeling a cool gust against his left side, he turned, arcing in the direction the wind was going, letting it guide him. If he executed his plan properly, he would land on the ground gracefully, like a plane coming in for a landing. It rarely worked that way, he knew, but practice made perfect.

In no time, he felt chunks of dirt shredding beneath his spikes. It had been a smooth transition from air to ground. He had never done it so well, or so painlessly.

Then he smacked into something. His body was in just the wrong spot to sandwich his injured hand between himself and the obstacle for a split second. Then he rebounded forcefully backwards. He felt his body uncurl, and then the ground was beneath him again. The contact was infinitely more harsh the second time.

He cried out briefly between shallow breaths. The world went a little blurry around him as he tried to get up, not only from being dizzy, but from the sudden jolt of agony in his hand. It was so shockingly painful that he felt sick. After a moment he allowed himself to collapse back to the ground. He would get nowhere fast in such a state of vertigo. Better to rest and get a hold of himself.

Only after the dizziness went away and the sharp edge of pain diminished did he dare to get up. He hoped he hadn't messed up his hand's healing process, but he couldn't worry about it right now. Once sure he could support himself, he walked cautiously forward, searching for whatever it was he had slammed into. He couldn't see anything.

After a few moments, though, he felt it. It was the barrier, just as present in the past as it was in the present. He wondered how such a thing was possible, then remembered that the barrier was made using the Chaos Emeralds. Of course it would be present in all time periods; the Chaos Emeralds could teleport.

"So I'm still stuck here either way," the hedgehog muttered to himself. "At least I know."

And at least Tails's house was within the boundaries.

Ignoring the lingering pain in his hand – and in his whole body, for that matter – he shot off in a dead run for Tails's workshop.

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When Sonic rushed in the door ten minutes later, the Chaos Drive in his good hand, Tails was on his front on the floor. At first glance, a scene like that was a scary sight, but only for a second. The fox, though not appearing to be in good condition at all, was alive and awake.

He had a pen in his hand and a piece of paper in front of him. His whole body was trembling. Sonic knew from his own experience that it was either in weakness or excruciating pain. He hoped it was the former, but somehow knew it was the latter.

There were teardrops falling on the floor around the paper as the fox pressed the pen down hard, making himself write.

"Stop that, stop," Sonic said in a whisper. Even though he said it as gently as he could, the fox jumped and turned around fast. "Tails, shh… it's just me. It's just who it always is."

"Sonic…! How… how could you stand this? It happened to you so much… so much more than it's happening to me." The fox gasped, suddenly looking even more terrified. To Sonic, he looked like a child again. It wasn't a side of Tails he saw often anymore. He wanted to comfort that scared, panicked child inside. "That's because it's not done yet, is it? It's going to get worse, isn't it? Like it did for you… oh Sonic, I knew it had to be unbearable, but I could never have fathomed…"

Sonic leaned down and pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. He knew Tails would have kept on talking. Tails thought he was going to die, and there were things he wanted to say. Despite the pain, he was determined to say them.

But it was no longer necessary.

"Look," the hedgehog said quietly, holding out the antidote. "Open your mouth, bro." Tails did. He started pouring the liquid in slowly. "Swallow every bit of it."

Tails gulped it down like he had never had anything to drink in his life. He knew what it was. The look of agony remained on his face for several long, torturous seconds – torturous for both of them. Then, Sonic could see the pain leaving his eyes. It didn't go away completely, or enough, but it was on its way.

As Tails had his life returned to him, Sonic brushed his fingers against the side of the fox's face, silently helping him through the last of the pain. Sonic felt that something had been returned to him, as well.

Those bright blue eyes that Sonic had missed so much finally rose up to meet his gaze. At first, he looked as if he still couldn't process what had just happened. Slowly, disbelief settled in, followed by an overwhelming collection of emotions that Sonic could only empathize with because he felt the exact same way. It was amazing to look into Tails's eyes again, and feel him looking back. It was merely eye contact, but to Sonic, it was the most precious thing in the whole world. "Thank you, my brother," the fox said in a voice saturated with sincerity and love. Sonic smiled at him, becoming absorbed in their shared gaze, for the moment having no desire to do anything more.

Finally, he said softly, "Where've you been all my life, Tails?"

"…What?"

The hedgehog laughed a pleasant, quiet, relieved laugh. "Never mind. I'll be back, okay?" _Or at least, the other me will be right back._

"What? But… but I want you to stay. You can't go off on another adventure now, not after all…"

Again, Sonic silenced him. "Don't worry. I meant, I'll be back in a few minutes." The other Sonic would be there any _second _now, never mind minutes, and since he was playing an active role in the past now instead of just observing it, that would not go over well. "I promise. Okay?"

"Okay, Sonic." Tails smiled.

The blue blur rushed out the door and back towards where he had left Shadow. As he ran, he reminisced, something that he was doing an awful lot of lately. He had never lost sight of himself and his life while dealing with his best friend's death, even though it had deeply upset him for a while. After that, he had come to realize that he could still enjoy life like he did before. Life was too precious to miss out on for any reason. But still, now that the deed was sealed, Sonic felt happier than he had in a long, long time.

On that short run back, it felt as if everything was all right in the world, even though it wasn't. When he and Shadow went back to the present in a few minutes, he had no doubt that Tails would be there. Tails, his brother, his best friend, was the factor that made everything all right in _his _world.

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...No, of COURSE it's not this simple. I hope you didn't honestly think they're just going to go defeat Eggman now and everything's going to be okay.

It's peculiar that FFN's edit/preview system thinks that 'teleport' is not a word. It always has that squiggly red line under it. Hmph.

At any rate... thanks for reading (and reviewing?). Looking forward to seeing you all next time for Chapter 12: Unnatural. Aside from realizing he just changed the world, Sonic gets unexpectedly ambushed… and neither Shadow nor Tails are around to help.


	12. Ch 12: Unnatural

I wanted to have this up last week, but I suppose a week long delay is better than… you know… eight months. At this point I'm thinking I'm back on a semi-regular updating schedule, at least, which makes me happy. This story's second half is just too epic to let it end prematurely.

I have been working a "part-time" job which gives me almost forty hours every week, hence the quotes around part-time. College is also coming up, but by then, I will have quit my job because they're unwilling to work with my schedule. In other words, I'll still be busy, but it shouldn't be any busier than I have been, and I should have plenty of time for typing this… along with 'Survivor's Resolve,' which is my sequel to Sonic Adventure 2 and will be out towards the end of the year. ;)

Enjoy.

CHAPTER 12: Unnatural.

"We are stuck in Eggman's Empire either way," Shadow said as soon as they teleported back to the present. "I tried to get us outside the empire. The Chaos energy in the barrier overpowers it."

Sonic already knew that; he had found that out when he nearly re-broke his hand running into the boundary while they were in the past. He didn't say anything, suddenly feeling very, very out of sorts. He had no idea why.

There was one thing he knew, though. "Tails should be here."

Shadow gestured with his eyes. Sonic turned around and came face to face with the golden-furred fox. He was very much there, and very much alive.

Tails smiled a confused expression. "Well of course I'm here. Where have you been?"

Sonic almost laughed at the irony of the question. Almost.

He realized he had altered the very makeup of both their lives. Tails had never died. He had been with Shadow and Sonic in the empire the whole time.

_That _was the reason Sonic felt out of sorts. He had other memories. He had memories of Tails being alive where he had once been dead. He had memories of two lives, of a two-pronged fork in time where he had taken both ways. For the first time, he fully realized how dangerous a journey it had been to mess with the fabric of time.

He sincerely hoped he had not put the world in a worse place.

As if reading his mind, Shadow spoke, his voice almost a whisper. "Almost everything is the same. Tails or no Tails, it looks like Eggman would have succeeded with the empire."

"There are a lot more minions down here now," Sonic pointed out. "But that's just because Eggman's been working while we were gone, right?"

"Yes," Shadow said.

Tails met their eyes. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing," Sonic said. "It's not that important really."

Thankfully, Tails let the subject drop, taking his friend's word for it. "Hey, you two notice the moon has been visible in the sky a lot these past few days?"

Naturally, Sonic looked at the sky. "I haven't really been paying much attention to things like that, bro. Has it?"

"Yeah," the fox said, sounding far more interested than Sonic or Shadow looked. "And I _swear,_ its location during the day isn't corresponding to where it is when I see it at night."

"I think you need to stop moon-watching at night and get some sleep."

"I think I do too," Tails conceded. "It sounds ridiculous now that it's out of my mouth. I mean, the moon doesn't just change course whenever it feels like it."

Shadow just stared at them, his gaze unreadable.

"Sonic, I'm going to try again to figure out this barrier," Tails said, breaking the silence with a change of subject. "Everything has a weak spot, a way to be undone. Eventually, we're going to find it."

Triggered by Tails's words, Sonic felt himself being pulled into another realm of memory. It was of the day before. Tails had spent almost all the hours of daylight trying to find a loophole in the boundary. He had not even come close to finding a hint, much less a loophole, and he had been tired and discouraged by evening. The two of them had started making their way back to Tails's workshop, but there had been a lot of robots on patrol at the time, and the fox had been asleep on his feet, so they took shelter in an abandoned house.

Sonic was about to say okay, respecting the fox's optimistic persistence, but Shadow interjected. "It's unworkable from inside here. I would know."

"Just because you can't figure something out doesn't mean it's impossible, Shadow," Tails said, though he looked away from the dark hedgehog's glare as he finished his sentence. Sonic thought to himself that he would have said much the same thing. "It's not like we're being productive as it is; if I'm going to be unproductive, it might as well be through trying to attempt something that _is _productive."

Sonic glared at Shadow glaring at Tails. "Go on, bro," he said, putting a hand on his back and encouraging him toward the barrier. He kept his gaze on Shadow. "You're right. We won't accomplish anything just standing around."

"Thanks, Sonic," the fox said, smiling up at him appreciatively before taking flight and heading towards the edge of the empire. He stopped a few yards later and turned back. "I'll be back in a little while. If we don't figure something out today, then I think it's probably time to shift focus to a problem that we _can _fix." He grinned at Sonic.

"Like all these robots that appeared out of nowhere?" Sonic asked, returning the smirk in kind. "Oh yeah, we can fix that!" How he had missed Tails's sense of humor. Then he realized the fox had gotten it from him in the first place.

As the fox flew off, Shadow took the initiative to speak. "You just got your friend back, and you send him off in the empire alone."

"Isn't the barrier only about a quarter of a mile from here? If something happens, I can get to him in a few seconds."

Shadow just shook his head. "I could care less about that boy, but after what you just dragged both of us through to get him back, I would think you would watch him better."

"You don't know him like I do, Shadow. Tails is capable of taking care of himself. I can't tell you how many times I have trusted him to do things on his own, knowing that he could fight his way out of a rough situation, or fly to escape, if necessary… or just shout for me."

"No need to justify yourself to me. Like I said, I could care less."

Sonic folded his arms. "We need to talk. That's the other reason I wanted him to go off on his own for a bit."

"I know."

"Do you have new memories?"

"Of course. I knew that would happen all along. And to answer your next question, no, we will not forget our old memories. You will always remember that Tails died and I will always remember the blue annoyance that—"

"Saved your life?" Sonic shot.

Shadow ignored him, but didn't bother to finish the sentence his way. "As I was saying, we will remember everything. Tails, however, will not remember his alternate past, because he was dead in that path of time."

"What about the present?"

"What about it?"

"You said even the smallest changes can affect the present drastically. It doesn't look like anything drastic happened."

Shadow folded his arms now. "You know what happened."

Sonic realized he did. He remembered things he had done on the path of time he and Shadow had just created. It was the strangest feeling he had ever known. "Some things happened differently between then and now, as far as the progress of Eggman's empire… but in the end, we all pretty much made the same decisions. Tails and I were stuck in the empire before he would have died, and since that time, we still haven't found a way to get out. My hand," Sonic raised it in front of his face, "was never broken. It looks like Eggman and I never fought on the building top that one day."

"See what I mean?"

"…Oh man." Sonic reached behind his head quickly, looking frantic. "Okay, phew, I thought the Emerald was gone." He turned to Shadow's questioning glare. "That was one of the reasons Eggman wanted to find me that day. He was pretty sure I had a Chaos Emerald, and he wanted it. If we had never fought, for a second I thought that might have been because I never had the Emerald in the first place in this path. But I remember now… Tails and I still got it."

Before, the reason he had fought Rouge for the Emerald was because he needed to go back in time to save Tails. Now, he recalled, the reason he and Tails decided to get the Emerald from Rouge was because they couldn't risk it falling into Eggman's possession. The situation was already bad enough and they needed to do everything they could to keep it from getting worse. Rouge had understood their motives and agreed to give it to them for safekeeping… on the condition that they gave it back to her once they 'saved the world,' as she had put it. They had agreed on that compromise. Sonic knew it was only fair; after all, he was the one who had traded her the Emerald in the first place.

"Speaking of Eggman," Sonic said, "will he know of anything? And Knuckles, for that matter?"

"Anyone who wasn't involved in the teleportation will not remember the other path their lives took. Though you have altered time only slightly, you have altered it forever."

A covey of chills ran up the back of Sonic's arms. He looked away from Shadow, his gaze taking in the partly cloudy skies, the moist ground beneath him, the world he had changed by bringing Tails back into it.

He vowed that it would be for the better.

"For the purpose of overcoming the rest of our problems," the hedgehog said, "things are the same as they were before."

"Yes."

Sonic tried to think of anything else to say or ask. It seemed to him like he should have a thousand more questions, but he didn't. He hoped Shadow would stick around for a while in case he thought of any, though the black hedgehog no longer had any reason or obligation to. But then, what else was there to do? They were limited to the inside of the empire. It was huge, but Shadow was fast like he himself; it wasn't huge to them.

Deciding to voice his thoughts, Sonic turned back to Shadow. "So… where do we go from here?"

"As much as I don't like it, we have a common goal," Shadow responded. "I have no intentions of being trapped in this empire forever."

For the first time, it occurred to Sonic that the black hedgehog probably kind of liked him. He would never admit it, but he probably liked the excitement of having someone to argue with, travel back in time with, and fight with now and then. Sonic imagined that inside the empire, life had been just as awful and dull for Shadow as it was for everyone else, and even Ultimate Life-forms needed something to do occasionally.

"Me neither. Hey Shad, I'll be back in a few. I'm going to go see if Tails made any progress."

"You do that."

Sonic headed towards the barrier at a quick trot instead of running. There was a lot left to do, but for now, he figured he could relax a little. He had been running around for weeks. On the way there, he thought about the battle that he knew lie ahead, about how challenging it really could be, and about how much fun he would have getting through it with Tails by his side.

It seemed he and Tails had gone to hell and back so many times, yet he found himself wanting only to do it again. In the last few years, they had faced some of the most difficult, discouraging and painful struggles in both of their lives. The memories of those struggles, though, were nothing but fond. He felt no bitterness, even thinking back on some of his worst moments, because he had always had what it took to overcome them… and because Tails had always been by his side, doing the same.

He became so lost in thought that he didn't notice the circle of android patrollers descending from the sky until a moment too late, when they were surrounding him.

There were dozens upon dozens of them. The group gave him a wide berth, which took a little away from his advantage of speed. If they were as good of robots as he had been seeing lately, he knew they could probably shoot something at him before he could reach them.

In fact, they were already leveling their right arms at him.

Sonic fell into the same zone of calm and intensity that he always did when he fought. Moving his eyes but not his head, he looked around to see if Tails was close by. He knew he was, but he couldn't spot him through the trees scattered randomly about. There weren't that many, but one of them was probably blocking his view of the fox.

He realized the androids must have been keeping tabs on them. They had waited until he was alone to surround him. They had waited until he was far enough away from Shadow, but not too close to Tails, to make their move.

One of them would cross his path soon. Either Tails would make his way back to where they had been, or Shadow would come to meet up with them. But Sonic knew he couldn't wait for help. The droids knew that, too, and were locking on their respective aims.

He tried to think back to a previous situation like this, tried to remember what he might have done… but the fact of the matter was that he was hardly ever caught off guard like this, and especially not alone. When he was, it was usually against odds he knew he could face. Odds that weren't too far away for him to reach before they blew his head off.

Sonic thought to himself that he had strong legs and a high jump. If he leapt too early, before they shot, they would quickly readjust their aims. Too late, and he would likely be seriously injured, if not killed. He had to wait until they were committed to the shot and then jump. If executed right, the bullets would all cross paths beneath him as he was in the air, and he could curl into a ball and start attacking before they even detected that he had dodged the trap.

In his mind, he saw it happening in one fluid, smooth movement. As the robots committed themselves to the shot, he committed himself to the plan.

The bullets sounded as one. Sonic jumped.

One nicked his ankle just before he began to spin dash. He yelped in pain but lost no time to the interference, heading towards one edge of the circle at full speed. Five seconds passed. Ten droids exploded. Sonic continued to tear through more, making clean, round holes in the center of each one. He felt himself losing momentum and stopped behind the nearest enemy.

"Sonic, are you okay?" A young voice demanded from a distance. It was Tails. He must have arrived just in time to hear Sonic cry out from the bullet wound.

The blue blur laughed through a grimace. "Are you kidding? Yeah, I'm okay, I didn't think it'd even go this well!"

A second's glance told him that he had already obliterated almost a third of the force that had been surrounding him. As they fired again, he jumped, this time not getting shot. The droid he had stopped behind, along with a few that were near it, blew up as bullets from the robots across the circle pierced through them. This tactic he had used before. He knew Eggman would see the bullet wounds in his creations and catch on. Soon enough he would upgrade the robots so that they didn't continue to accidentally shoot each other. But for now the tactic worked, and in the moment that was all that mattered.

He didn't feel the pain in his ankle anymore. He would once the fight was over and the adrenaline rush went away, but that didn't matter either. Right now, he just had to defeat his enemies

It took only a few minutes to downsize the army to half a dozen. He crouched, preparing to finish them off, then paused. Something had changed. None of them were attacking anymore. In fact, it appeared that they were all about to collapse to the ground.

No sooner had the thought occurred to him when they did just that. All six of them just crashed to the ground in seeming defeat.

They ejected their excess ammo erratically on the way down.

The suicide-attack was so unexpected that no one, including Shadow, who had just arrived, had time to dodge or so much as flinch. Two of the three beings in the vicinity were further away and got lucky. The other was right in the path of a speeding bullet.

The searing pain took several seconds to register. When it did, Sonic locked his throat closed over his scream and sank to his knees, putting a hand on his shoulder. He felt the bullet wedged in his collarbone. Blood ran between his fingers, over his knuckles and hands, and finally dripped off his elbow in bright red strings.

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Next chapter will be up soon. It'll be one of the shorter ones in this story, but the rest after that should be long and saturated with plot and action. :) See you next time.


	13. Ch 13: Allies

I have little to say, for a change. Life is busy and stressful, but typing gives me a wonderful escape. I love life – I really do – but I confess that I also love escaping into fantasy… escaping into Sonic's world.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 13: Allies

It was frighteningly silent.

The world was an eerie red blur. He wondered why everything had turned red. He had obviously been shot; had some of the blood spattered in his eyes? He blinked to test his theory, and his surroundings returned to their normal shade.

And then, all of a sudden, it was painfully loud.

"Sonic, are you okay! Sonic!"

"I thought you were the fastest thing alive. I could have avoided that."

"Oh no, he's losing a lot of blood… Shadow! Do you have to be that way right now? I bet you couldn't have avoided that either!"

"Come on, hedgehog, get on your feet. It's just a bullet wound."

"_Just _a bullet wound? You're not helping anything, Shadow! Sonic… please say something."

Sonic coughed. "Ow."

"Out of the way, Tails," Shadow said. "I can remove it."

"Wait, won't that make him bleed more? I don't think that's a good idea."

"It's not like there are any doctors around, and it needs to be removed for him to heal. Besides, it is wedged in his collarbone, which prevented it from going too deep."

"Which means he shouldn't lose too much more blood than he already has, right? Hold on, don't do anything yet. Let me find something to help control the blood loss."

Listening to his brother's tact and logic, Sonic felt proud. The fox was only a child on the outside. Most of the time.

"Sonic… you probably already know this is going to hurt," Tails said, taking off his shoes, tossing them aside, and holding up his socks. "These will have to suffice."

Sonic could feel Shadow's hands on his shoulder. He held his breath, already trying not to wince even though nothing terribly painful had happened yet. It was all in the dreadful anticipation. He told himself not to get worked up yet, knowing that if one expected the worst, that was what would be felt, even if the reality of the pain wasn't that bad. He tried not to expect, and just be.

Shadow pulled some fur and skin aside as he tried to get a better view of the bullet. Seeing the still-fluent line of blood trailing down between the hedgehog's neck and shoulder, the Ultimate Life-form removed his white gloves in order to keep them clean and used his fingers. It was easier to grasp the bullet without the hindrance of the gloves anyway.

Trying to direct his focus elsewhere, Sonic turned his head to the other side and laid it on the ground. A few seconds later, Shadow tested the bullet with a yank. Sonic's whole body lurched.

"Sensory overload, sensory overload," the blue blur strained. "Can you, like, take it easy?"

Shadow scoffed. "Oh, come on. If you're the hero I've heard you are, then surely this is nothing compared to the pain you've already been through."

Sonic growled under his breath. "So, what? I'm supposed to _welcome _this just because I'm been through worse?"

If only Shadow knew how much worse. The memories of the stabbing, and more recently, what the poison had done to him, had never stolen any of his sleep… but he still didn't like to think about it. Despite his confidence in his endurance, and despite his belief in not dwelling on past hardships, Sonic hoped he never had to face such a brutal situation again.

Before he could be bothered to concern himself any longer with his brief falter in mentality, he realized that something else Shadow had said a moment ago struck a chord. "Wait, you've heard about me before you actually met me? That means someone told you. Were you around her before all the people were locked away in Grand Metropolis?"

"That's irrelevant."

Sonic didn't move as Shadow tried again to remove the bullet. He knew what to expect now, and was prepared for it. "That's suspicious," he corrected after the moment passed. "Did you have something to do with all this?"

"What reason do you suppose I would have to capture all these people? What reason would I have to trap myself inside a barrier I can't break? If you don't stop interrogating me, I'll just leave the bullet in there and you can dig it out on your own time."

"No need to be so—"

"Look, _hero._ I don't like you any more than you like me and I don't trust you any more than you trust me, but I have stopped trying to use everything you say against you. I would appreciate it if you would allow me the same peace."

"…Touché."

Sonic felt Shadow's knuckles digging into the area around the wound as he squeezed the bullet in his grip. Then, with one last unrestrained pull, the bullet popped out of the bone. Sonic squeezed his eyes shut. Tails pressed one rolled up sock against the wound hard, tying the other sock around Sonic's arm and over his collarbone to hold the wad in place. It soaked almost all the way through before stopping.

Sonic opened his eyes. "I will not miss those last five minutes," he said. "But thanks, guys."

Tails chuckled. Shadow folded his arms. And then all three of them jumped as something formulated out of thin air between the three of them.

"Espio?" Sonic and Tails said as one. Shadow continued to stand with his arms folded, though he looked interested in the purple chameleon that was suddenly before him.

"Didn't expect to _see _you here," Sonic said with a cocky wink. Behind him, Tails just shrugged and shook his head, a what-can-you-do smile on his face. Even Shadow couldn't deny returning the fox a slight grin. After looking at each of them in turn, Espio stepped back around to face Sonic.

"My sentiments exactly, Sonic," he said, nodding at Tails and Shadow. "That should have just stayed in the privacy of your thoughts. It would have saved us all an inward grimace."

"You're not exactly a comedian," Shadow muttered, "but usually your humor isn't quite _that _lame."

Tails just held his smile steady without comment.

"Okay, okay," Sonic said in defeat. "I withdraw that. All better?" There was a unanimous nod. "So… what are you doing here?" He asked, raising his arms and letting them drop to his sides.

"It appears he was eavesdropping," Shadow put in before Espio could answer the question for himself.

"I was not eavesdropping," Espio denied. "I saw you and approached."

"What was the point of blending, if that's the case?"

The chameleon sighed. "I was quite a distance away and couldn't tell who you were. I just knew that there was life about, and in this empire, it appears that there are very few allies."

"We're the only allies you'll find here," Sonic said. "But we're glad you found us." His quills swung as he turned his attention to Shadow. "Espio has helped Tails and I through a lot. Don't attack him."

"You act like I'm some kill-happy psycho."

"Aren't you?"

Shadow took a calm but very deliberate stride toward his blue rival. "You _want _me to be, hedgehog?"

"Such a display of maturity," Espio retorted under his breath. Both hedgehogs redirected their glares at him.

Tails stepped in the middle of the group. "You know, this is a terrible combination of people."

"Indeed," Espio muttered. "We have enough enemies inside the empire as it is. We don't need to make our own battlefield."

Both hedgehogs sighed, then glared at each other for doing so.

Sonic was the first to relax. He stepped away from Shadow and towards Espio and Tails, appearing to lighten up again. "So, plan on answering my question anytime soon?" He bit back his snarky comment that maybe Shadow would let Espio answer his own question this time, deciding instead to keep the tense but existent peace.

"You remember when Station Square was obliterated by Zorro," Espio began. "After the destruction, we decided to relocate in hopes of keeping ourselves in business. It just so happens that the city we relocated to is outside the empire. Vector and Charmy are there, trapped outside the barrier, while I'm trapped inside."

"Any particular reason you were separated from them?"

"I was getting to that. Only days before the barrier went up, I decided to return to our old headquarters in Station Square to retrieve some things we had left behind. I also wanted to see if the city was in better shape, and at the time, it was. Unfortunately for me, the barrier went up while I was in the area. Of course, any reconstruction that was attempted on the grounds of Station Square matters little now that Eggman has expanded his empire over that, too. It's a shame. We had good business there, and the people there were friendly. Now many of them are either prisoners or dead."

Sonic looked away, rubbing his temples. He missed that town. "It is a shame," he said grimly, taking in Espio's disappointment and, beside him, Tails' obvious sadness. "But if Station Square is ever going to be anything close to normal again, and if any of those prisoners are ever going to _found_, we need to stop the rise of the empire. Let's try to focus on that."

The whole group nodded in agreement. If nothing else, that was one thing they could agree on.

"That would be made a lot easier if we could first find a way to disable the barrier," Tails put in, voicing everyone's thought. "So far, we've gotten nowhere with that. So I'm thinking we should split up in a way that'll make us productive. All three of you are great fighters, so at least two of you should try to find Eggman. This is his empire, and it's huge, so I have to believe he's in here somewhere."

Sonic raised a finger to stop Tails. "I don't know about that, bro. I'm thinking Shadow and I already would have come across him, fast as we are. I mean, I saw him that one time, but that was weeks ago, and I was focused on… other things, at the time. He might not even be here anymore."

"But it's still worth checking, isn't it? You guys are fast, so it'd be easy to miss him. For all you know, he might have been within a block of you, but you didn't see him because you were just whizzing by. If you could slow down, to, I don't know, maybe 200 miles per hour… you could effectively look for him, and probably find him way faster than Espio or me." He paused, and grinned. "And if not, you can wreak some havoc on his army."

Sonic grinned with him.

"As far as Espio… well, you're sneaky, and a you're a fantastic warrior. Perhaps you could go with Sonic. I bet you two could make a great team. Sonic has speed and agility, and you have stealth."

"I'm faster than both of them," Shadow said with a glare. "I should be the one seeking out the doctor."

"You're not faster than Sonic!" Tails said defensively, meeting Shadow's eyes with a glare of his own. "Besides, you know a lot about the Emeralds, even more than Sonic and I, probably. That much, I'll give you."

"Your point?"

"I'm trying to deactivate the barrier. The barrier is powered by Emeralds. You should come with me!"

"You're not going with him," Sonic snapped.

"Don't you want to do all this in the best and fastest way possible?" Tails asked. "No offense, but I think I can make that decision myself, anyway."

The hedgehog sighed. "I know, I know."

Tails approached his surrogate brother. "Are you okay? You don't usually say things like that anymore. I want you to believe in me.

"I do believe in you, Tails," Sonic said, a soft smile overcoming him. "If you think that's the best way to go about things, then I say let's go for it. I just had an older-brother moment there."

They shared a smile of appreciation for each other's viewpoints, and that was the end of it. All was forgiven.

"Before we do anything," Shadow said, "Which group is taking the Chaos Emerald?"

"I am. I've had it since I found it, why change anything now?"

"I would think you would give it to your brother, who you claim to love so much, for protection."

"Tails can take care of himself; he pretty much just told me so. And I trust him. Why would he be likely to need protection, anyway? Robots don't tend to hover right on the edge of the barrier. It messes with their systems. Unless he needs protection from you, which I certainly hope isn't the case." Sonic's expression and voice were way more pleasant than the underlying message his words contained.

"If he and I are going to try and bring down the barrier, it would be helpful to have a Chaos Emerald."

Tails, looking like he regretted what he was about to say, stepped forward a little. "Actually, he's right, Sonic. It's possible it could aid us in taking down the barrier."

The two held each others' gaze for a moment. Then Sonic pulled the Chaos Emerald from his quills and tossed it to the fox. "Take good care of it. We don't want it falling into the wrong hands." Sonic glanced over to Shadow for a split second as he spoke. He hoped Tails received the hidden message.

"I know that, Sonic," he said convincingly. "I'll take care of it."

"Guys, I hear robots," Tails interrupted. His large, sensitive ears twitched slightly, as if to prove his words true. "At least, I think I do. I can't tell from where, though."

All four of them looked around. "That way," Espio said. "Towards that large pond, off in the distance. I hear them too."

"Sonic! Let's fight them as a group before we split up, and ambush _them_ for a change. I want to at least have a little fun."

"That's my bro! All right guys, let's do it!"

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Chapter 14 is going to be a pretty big presentation for this story. This cliffhanger obviously leads to a fight scene… but this fight scene leads to so much more. Wish them luck, for they will need it. ;) Sayonara for now, see you all soon.


	14. Ch 14: Scars Fade Away

It's kind of overwhelming, isn't it, the release of so many Sonic games at once? Sonic Colors comes out in the U.S. tomorrow, and coming from an avid fan of Sonic and Tails… IT LOOKS AMAZING. The few cutscenes I let myself watch on Youtube give me a GREAT first impression. Just the way Sonic and Tails talk to each other makes me so happy. They're so familiar and casual and brotherly. I can't wait to see what this game brings, as far as character development, plot, gameplay, replay value, unlockables… everything. It looks slightly on the lighthearted side for my tastes, but then, that's what I thought about Unleashed before its release as well, and THAT turned out to be one of my favorite Sonic games of all time.

Anyway… if you weren't anticipating this release, you should be now! And with anticipation so high, what better to tide you over than another chapter of DSotM? This happens to be one of my favorite chapters in this story, so I hope you like it as much as I do! Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 14: Scars Fade Away

As the quad of semi-allies ran towards the pack of robots at the pond, Espio came up alongside Sonic and got his attention.

"From here, they look like one of the more powerful series of Eggman's robots. If I'm right, they're called the Eggman Empire Elites, and they'll have 'E3' on their left shoulders. I've only encountered them once. I didn't get too close, knowing it was suicide to try and fight them on my own. These might be the same ones."

"They're gold and red, and really different looking," Sonic said. "I think I would have remembered seeing these before. What's more powerful about them?"

"I camouflaged so I could get near enough to see them clearly, and from what I observed, they are very fast. They can also shape-shift. Once we get close enough, you'll be able to see slots on their sides. Their limbs can retract into those. I don't know what the purpose of it is, though."

The robots stood tall on smooth, gold legs. Each limb had two bending points instead of one. The shining gold ran all the way up the legs and halfway up the torso of the robots, where it was interrupted by a dark crimson. The arms, also crimson, looked rather plain, but they all knew from experience that there were probably weapons underneath the exterior.

They were not blocky-looking at all; in fact, they looked smoother and more agile than any robots Sonic had ever seen.

"They were probably watching us," the hedgehog said. "The last group of robots weren't anything like this, but they watched me until I was alone and then attacked. These ones might have been waiting for the same opportunity."

"Somehow I doubt it," Espio said. "If they are as strong as they appear to be, they would have no need to wait for that."

"They won't leave us alone, and they get better every time they show up," Sonic pointed out. "Neither of those things are coincidence. Eggman's got a plan."

All four of them were running next to each other, now. Shadow, near Sonic on the far right, looked over at them. "I encountered two a while back, so they've existed for a while; just not in many numbers. They were the ones who collapsed that building on me before I could react, and they were gone before I escaped, so I never got the chance to tear them apart. They're clever, and they work fast. If they managed to disable _me _that quickly, I can't imagine any of _you _will have better luck."

Sonic glowered at him. Tails recognized the look in both sets of eyes and took flight, quickly moving over the group to land between them. "The enemies are over _there!_" He shouted irritably.

They both nodded reluctantly, but it didn't stop Sonic from adding, "I'm the one who got you out of that building."

"They've spotted us," Espio said calmly. "There appear to be about twenty of them. We should spread out a little and try to get them to spread out as well. But not too much, as we need to be able to look out for each—"

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said confidently, "I know you're a ninja and stuff, but we're not new to this either."

With that, the blue blur bolted ahead of them, eager to be the first to take on the new robots. Shadow growled something under his breath and took off after him, having no intentions of letting the other hedgehog reach the action before _he _did.

Espio pulled out his throwing knife and then camouflaged. Tails had already taken to the air and was almost caught up to Shadow and Sonic. He arrived just in time to see Sonic rebound from a spin dash.

It hadn't even left a dent in the robot before him.

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Sonic's perspective.

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I couldn't believe my spin dash hadn't broken through it. I had been going at least a few hundred miles per hour. The thing had hardly even budged.

It was difficult pushing myself up off the ground. I felt like my brain had been shaken inside my skull.

"What's up with _that!_" I said, looking up at Tails. There were two of him. I tried to focus my vision.

He shrugged. "I guess they _are _stronger. Watch yourself."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Espio's knife whiz past the side of my head and strike the robot I'd been trying to destroy. One of the three blades on the triskele stuck in its torso, but it didn't seem to affect its functioning.

For his part, Espio seemed uncharacteristically surprised. Usually, the arc of his throw caused his weapon to simply slice a hole in the enemy and boomerang back to him. Now it was stuck.

"…I need that back."

I glanced up at Tails, who had just chuckled for some odd reason. He grinned down at us. "Leave this to me!" He flew upward another fifty feet, then dove down in a rush. At the last second, he pointed his feet downward and stomped on the robot's head, forcing it down into its body. It was awesome. He sprung back upwards and flipped through the air before doing the same to another robot that was close enough. The others were still making their way around the large pond.

Tails landed on his feet and looked over his shoulder as both robots exploded. To finish the stylish presentation, he jokingly dusted himself off, the way I would.

Well. There was _one _thing that had changed drastically because of my tampering with time. His fighting skills had increased a lot over those three months. As had his ego.

"How did you know to do that?" I asked as he jogged back over to us, brushing his bangs out of his face.

"From above, I could see that their heads are only held to their bodies by these… well, hinges, kinda. Between their head and their neck, I could see their inner workings. Not a smart idea on Eggman's part to leave the neck hollow. He should have filled the empty space with reinforcements."

"That was sweet, Tails."

He smiled, looking far more modest in the face of a compliment than in the face of an enemy. I was glad he was confident on the battlefield, though. It made me have more confidence in him, too.

"Here come the rest," Shadow said. "It won't be easy facing ten times the amount you just faced."

"Plan on helping any?" I shot. I expected Tails to try and stop me from arguing with Shadow right now, but instead, he came up next to me and looked at Shadow expectantly.

"Fine, since you obviously don't think you can do it without me."

"Tails just took care of two without your help, so we obviously _can_. We're not asking you to be a showoff and take care of all the problems for us; we can do that ourselves if need be."

"Yeah," Tails said, "You'd be, like… a catalyst. You'd make defeating them a lot easier and faster, but if you don't want to help, we don't need you."

"But don't expect me to get you out of any more fallen buildings if you can't help us out with something that would apparently be so easy for you," I remarked.

"Is someone a little intimidated by the robots that defeated him before?" Espio put in, grinning a little along with Tails and I.

Shadow wasn't grinning. His hands were fisted at his sides. "I am the Ultimate Life-form," he said quietly. "I do not get intimidated."

The remaining E3s increased speed, approaching unexpectedly fast. We were all still focused on our conversation when a dozen of them quickly formed a wide circle around us. The remaining six went between them, inside the circle. It was so sudden that even I couldn't react before their maneuver was finished.

But it wasn't finished. We all watched as the ones forming the ring collapsed themselves into metal boxes with long spikes extending from the top, sides and front. The spikes were gold and appeared to come from what used to be the torso, underside and back of the robots. Not hesitating, I made a move to escape the ring. As soon as I approached the edge, the three spiked robots that were nearest to me slid closer to each other on the ground, blocking my path. The move left a lot of space on either side of the trio, though, so I dashed for one of the openings.

Long before I got there, the three robots had shifted over to block me again. Trapped inside a small battlefield, I couldn't get the speed I wanted, but I was still pretty fast. They were faster.

"Sonic!" Tails called out to me. Once he got my attention, he dive-bombed a robot, but it used its long arms to shield its head. Tails recovered from the block and landed on the ground, running towards me. "They learn from what we do. They recognize what happened to the two that I defeated, and do what they have to do keep it from happening to them. They have really intelligent AI!"

Suddenly, an E3 sped up behind Tails. I saw him coming a split second before he got there, but it was still too late. He smacked Tails in the back hard, sending him flying towards the perimeter of the battlefield – right towards one of the spiked cubes. I raced after him, seeing what was coming if I didn't do something about it. As he landed in the wet grass and tumbled over himself uncontrollably, I threw myself on the other side of him and tried to catch him before he hit the sharp perimeter. It didn't work out as I'd planned. Tails's momentum took me with him and sandwiched me between him and the spikes.

I cried out in sudden, unexpected agony.

"Ugh…" Tails gained his bearings from the bumpy ride and pushed himself to his feet. By the look on his face, I knew he didn't realize what had happened until he saw me. "Oh my gosh! Sonic… here, let me help…"

I was on my side on the ground, the spikes digging into my back. We had slowed down enough to prevent me being impaled or something, but they had still broken the skin, and it was still incredibly painful. "Wait, waitwaitwait," I stammered as Tails bent down to help me. I didn't want to be touched or moved. Tails watched me with a concerned expression as I laid still for a long moment. Then I slowly pulled myself away from the spikes.

_Hah, that's what I get for having my little bro back._

Once all the sharp ends were out of me, I rolled forward on my front in relief.

"Are you okay?" Tails asked.

"I think so," I mumbled into the ground. "How bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it probably feels. There's only a little blood. Sonic… why do you always have to do that?" I turned my head to look at the apologetic expression on his face.

"Would you do the same for me?"

"Of course I would. Without a second thought."

I smiled at him, then grimaced unintentionally. Ouch. "Then it doesn't need explaining, now, does it?"

"I suppose not." He smiled, too. "Can you get up? Espio and Shadow are holding them at bay for us. They saw what happened. But they won't be able to hold them back forever."

"Yeah, I think I'm good," I said. Tails held a hand out. I grasped it and he grabbed my forearm with his other hand, then pulled me up smoothly.

For a moment, I wondered if _my_ spikes hurt that bad when I was forced to use them on something capable of feeling pain.

"Tails, can you fly us out of here? I don't like limited fighting space."

"That's not a good idea; trust me. Shadow tried jumping over one of the spike bots at the same time you were trying to run around them. It blasted upward as Shadow was going over it and the spikes almost caught his face. I don't want to risk it."

He could have just left it at the first sentence.

"We need to find a way to fight them. They're guarding their only weak spot!"

Just as I finished saying that, I heard a loud grunt from Espio. I whirred around to see what had happened. For a second there was nothing, then I saw Espio slowly come back into view from his camouflage. He was on the ground on his side, hands to his head, making a respectable effort to hide the pain I could see he was in.

Things were going downhill fast.

"Hang in there, Espio!" I called to him, turning away for a moment to survey the scene. Tails had run over to where Shadow was, and was trying to distract the nearest robot so Shadow could attack it. I could see the concern on Tails' face and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: this was already a tough battle, and it was only going to get tougher. For the moment, though, he was holding his own. I raced over to Espio.

"It's superficial," the chameleon said, seeing me see the bleeding wound on his forehead. Espio was no stranger to injuries, and it looked superficial to me too, but it bothered me that he hadn't gotten up yet.

It also bothered me that a lifetime ninja and martial artist had been attacked so brutally, so quickly. "What happened?" I asked him. It wasn't the ideal place to have a discussion, but at the same time, I figured we needed to learn from each others' failures to defeat these guys.

"I camouflaged and they still detected me."

I let out a low whistle. The last time that had happened was… never. That explained why he was caught off-guard like he was.

"Move."

I dove to my right. When someone tells you to move in the middle of a fight, you don't waste time asking stupid questions. I just barely avoided getting plowed by an E3 moving at ridiculous speeds. But Espio didn't avoid it. I saw him try, saw the signs that his body was still failing to react the way he wanted it to. I saw the E3 force him almost to the edge of the ring, then start beating him without restraint.

Already recovered from my quick dodge, I was running after him, having no idea what to do to but hoping I would by the time I got there a few milliseconds later. I never quite got there, because I made crucial mistake.

Tunnel vision.

Following my first instinct to save Espio, I wasn't paying any attention to what was going on outside of that. So I didn't see the robot that had been behind the one now pinning Espio to the ground. I didn't see it coming at me from the side, about to cross paths with me violently.

The heavy weight of the robot crashed into me, lifting me clear off the ground. I cried out in mortal agony as one of my ribs cracked with the impact. My scream was jolted by the sudden force of the ground hitting my face. The E3's inertia landed it right on top of me for a split second before it kept rolling. The rib snapped completely. Against my own will, I inhaled to scream. The act increased the pain in my side tenfold. My throat constricted and my breath locked in my lungs.

Seconds were hours as I laid there, clutching my side, holding my breath. My eyes were shut tightly, so I had no idea if that robot was getting back up, ready to kick me while I was down. I tried to breathe. It was a very shallow, painful first breath. But there was no time. I couldn't wait until I was okay to get back up.

I forced my eyes open and rolled over on my front. Endorphins were kicking in somewhat, but I still heard myself moaning as I got to my feet. I hoped the broken rib was the _only _thing in there that was broken.

The spiked outer ring was about five feet away from me. Impaled on one set of the spikes was the robot that had slammed into me. Most of its exterior was destroyed, and it was on fire. I tried to ignore my pain and figure out a way I could get the rest of the robots to kill themselves like that.

"Hey, Faker! I tried to say you were all out of your minds."

Shadow had a robot to each side of him, one holding each arm immobile. Though he tried, even his strength couldn't match that of the robots holding him. A little ways behind him, I saw Tails being held in a similar fashion. His legs were limp beneath him and his eyes were just barely open. He looked dizzy and sick. My stomach lurched in fear. I hoped he was okay.

I didn't need to look behind me to know that Espio was down for the count, too.

And Shadow was glowering at me like the whole thing was my fault. I wanted to hurt him. "It's not over yet," I said with a grim grin that dared him to tell me otherwise. If he had a response, I never heard it, because the two E3s holding him pressed their free limbs to the sides of his throat, knocking him out in five seconds flat. Espio would've known more about a technique like that than me, but I was pretty sure it involved cutting off the blood supply to his brain.

I was about to make a dash for Tails when I heard a voice I hadn't heard in a long, long time.

_Hold still._

It was the conscience of the Master Emerald.

_They detect by movement, not by sight. Be absolutely still._

I supposed it was a good thing I was already in a relatively normal position and not standing on one foot, or something. _Where have you been? _I thought. I tried to breathe without inflating anything but my lungs. The effort put more pressure on my ribs, which presented me with the additional challenge of not wincing.

_After energizing the Super Emeralds all that time ago, _the genderless voice began, _I needed time to rejuvenate as well. Even now, it is extremely difficult to communicate with so much negative energy being spread by the barrier. I can do little more than communicate, as a matter of fact. Sonic, listen to me. Leave Tails. He will be okay. If you attempt to pursue him, things will turn out worse. Allow the minions to capture you._

Where was the logic in that? _That's crazy, _I thought back.

_I thought you knew better than to doubt me. You, of all people, should know how to think rationally at a time like this._

_ I do, _I thought. _But you're not being rational!_

_ If you do not listen to me, things will not work out as planned, and the bigger picture will not end up looking like what you want it to look like._

_ What are you talking about? What plan?_

_ You'll understand in time, if you are willing to take a risk._ There was a drop of mockery in the voice, on the second part of the sentence, I noticed. I couldn't resist a smirk.

I caught myself too late; my change of expression alone betrayed me to the nearest E3. I managed to dodge its attack, setting off the rest of the robots in the process. "Risk is my middle name!"

From the corner of my eye, I saw another robot come at me. I stepped out of the way just in time, then whirred around – only to get rammed promptly in the head by a thick, metallic limb.

My last conscious thought was, _was that part of the plan?_

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"Sonic, are you awake?"

I was now.

It was sudden. There wasn't a blurry, groggy transition from unconsciousness to consciousness. I was just suddenly awake. I wondered if being in a standing position had made me rouse faster.

Then I wondered why I was in a standing position to begin with.

It was like I had just woken up from sleepwalking, and realized I had been sleepwalking. The only problem with that was that I knew I had been knocked out cold.

The surrounding area was dark, and my eyes were still adapting to it. I could see a wall across from me; that was about it. I tried to reach up and rub the darkness out of my eyes. My hand didn't move. Neither did the other one. Neither did my feet.

Cold, dreadful realization struck me. I had been sleeping on my feet because I was pinned to a wall.

"Don't panic," Espio said from several feet away from me. It was his voice that had asked me if I was awake a moment ago. It bothered me that his was the _only _voice I had heard thus far.

"Where are Tails and Shadow?" I asked.

"Not here. By the looks of it, that is probably a good thing."

My vision was adapting to the relative darkness. I could see that we were in a plain, unadorned hall. That our voices echoed was a pretty good indicator that the walls were marble. The one we were being held against was smooth and cold. I figured it was probably dark grey with light veins, like the one across from us. The ceiling was low, maybe eight feet, and concrete, like the floor.

Curious and a little unnerved by the fact that I couldn't move, I looked down at myself. I saw what I expected to see, but what I hoped I wouldn't see. Tight, metal semicircles were holding my feet to the floor, my wrists at my sides to the wall. There was a switch about a foot away from me that I imagined would open the restraints. I hated that it was so close but so out of reach. I was trapped and I knew it right then and there.

The pads taped to my shoulders and sides offered no comfort.

There were four total, two on my right and two on my left, and there was a wire connected to each one. Following the wires across the hall with my eyes, I could see that my right side was hooked up to one unit, my left to another. Espio was set up similarly. I wondered why.

If nothing else, I had an inward laugh at how traditional of a setup this was. Eggman was usually pretty original, but this idea was a little cliché, if you asked me.

"Well then," I said after I finished my appraisal of the situation, my voice resonating around the narrow chamber. "Good morning."

"I've had better mornings," he replied. Neither of us knew if it was actually morning or not, but we _had _just woken up. It was just the irony of voicing a pleasantry amidst a situation like this that made me say it. "They usually involve a cup of coffee." For his part, Espio's voice was cool and lightly sarcastic. I was glad he shared in my easy humor. The situation we were in was undeniably serious, and the wires taped to both of us foreshadowed how much more serious it would likely become. The way I saw it, that was enough gravity without us adding to it. Might as well even the balance, and take ourselves lightly while we could.

Something caught my eye a moment later, something that made it impossible to feel humorous anymore. I turned my head to my left, looking down towards the end of the hall.

Lying in a heap there were the limp bodies of three G.U.N. soldiers.

I felt queasy.

"…Not all the people captured were taken up to Grand Metropolis, were they?" I asked, my voice tone changing.

"Apparently not."

"There were people trapped in these chambers all along, these chambers that I rushed past so many times, not thinking anything of them. I could've saved them!"

"I don't think that's your weight to shoulder."

"Who else could have? _Shadow_? And Tails was dead half the time – er, you know what I mean – so I was the only one!"

Espio sighed. "I have been in the empire as long as you have. I did not know of this, either, and I do not hold myself responsible for something I didn't know about."

I looked back at the bodies, turning away from him. "These G.U.N. agents must have known what was going on. Eggman couldn't have them knowing about what he was doing. And while he was at it, why not try to persuade them to join his side, in exchange for life? And those who…" My voice cracked. "Those who refused were tortured to death."

"It appears Eggman has us set up to be next."

I gave him a sidelong glance, realizing only then that he was a whole ten feet away from me. The echo of our voices in the small building was deceiving. "Eggman never used to be like this," I said. "He was evil, yeah, but not like this. He's going insane now that he's so close to having the power he's dreamed of!" Espio was turning his arm, trying experimentally to ease out of the restraints. Even if our gloves were off, I don't think he would have had any success. The metal was biting into my wrists. I couldn't imagine his situation was any different.

Several weeks ago, in my 'other' life, I recalled Eggman saying he wanted to make my life miserable for all the times I made him miserable. He told me in a moment of unashamed, unrestrained honesty that he wanted to make me suffer. Although the exchange technically hadn't happened in this life, he undoubtedly still felt the same way. That wouldn't have changed. Now, he was acting on those feelings. I realized that was what he had been after all along. Reprisal.

And I also realized that I wasn't afraid of that. The sense of vulnerability I had felt before was nonexistent now. When Tails was killed by the poison, it brought me down to earth, made my attitude less genuine and more of a façade, made me something of a… faker. Even after the wounds had healed and I felt mostly myself again, there was still that scar that seemed as if it would never go away.

Of course, that Tails died at all had been effectively undone. But I could not unlearn the things I had learned throughout that journey. I couldn't un-think what had occurred to me about vulnerability, about how we could all lose our lives and ourselves so easily.

When Shadow and I had gone back in time and I saw my past form, it made me acknowledge how much my perspective on life had changed since then. I watched myself deal with the pain of the poison and the possibility of death, and remain totally unfazed. I thought to myself, 'I wish I still had that.' But even as I thought it, I knew that Tails' death had given me a new perspective that I had never seen before, and it couldn't be reversed, no matter how much time traveling we did.

That was the metaphorical scar.

But sometimes even scars can get so light you don't notice them anymore. That was the point in my life I was at right now. I no longer felt so mentally vulnerable. I was ready for whatever happened next, and I would not hesitate to take a risk when an opportunity arose. I felt as confident in myself as I knew I was supposed to feel, as I had _always _felt. I felt invincible – on the inside.

"Hard to miss the reason why Eggman wants me trapped in here right now," I muttered, grinning a little. "But what I don't understand is… why did he put you in here with me? I mean, I love the company, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't really have anything against you."

I actually _did _like the company. Espio and I were very different in a lot of ways; he was far more serious and dutiful than I ever wanted to be, and he had discipline that, if it was a trait of mine, I would find more of a burden than a virtue. But his quiet self-respect and his composure made him a low-maintenance personality, and he was easy to get along with.

"Nothing that I know of," the chameleon replied. "It's quite possible that he knows Vector and Charmy are outside the boundary. Perhaps he thinks I'm spying from an interior point of view, and communicating with them. I am a professional detective, after all."

"Wait, _have _you been talking to them? You could get them to go to G.U.N. and we could get outside help!"

"That was my first thought once I realized how serious Eggman's gotten about this empire. But by then, it was too late, and I was trapped in here."

My heart was pounding. "Even so, don't you have high tech phones and stuff? You could try contacting them and—"

"I did so several times in the weeks before I found you, at several different locations. The signal just doesn't carry through all the negative Chaos energy being spread by the barrier, even with the good technology we have."

It's a depressing feeling, getting your hopes up for nothing. "Oh, well. We'll figure out something!"

"I do have an idea for our current problem, but it likely won't work and sounds ludicrous in my thoughts, to say nothing of how it would sound out loud."

"That unpromising, huh? Well, try me!"

"It is something you would have to leave to me. Never mind for now."

I would have shrugged. "M'kay then."

A few minutes passed in silence.

"Sonic, have you noticed that we never see anyone approach the barrier from the other side? Even though I haven't been able to contact Vector, it seems _someone _should have tried to travel here and noticed the barrier. A phenomenon like this would be getting news coverage, too, and yet we've seen no sign of G.U.N. or any other source of help."

"Maybe it repels intruders, or something," I suggested. "Who cares? Knowing why there's no outside help isn't going change anything unless we can find a way to _communicate_ with someone outside."

"That should be our next step," Espio said.

"That's what I was thinking, but didn't we say we'd leave the barrier to Shadow and Tails for now? We agreed to find Eggman."

"Regardless, we can do neither until we escape."

"Actually, we can find Eggman," I said slowly.

Espio met my eyes. "Why do you say that so unenthusiastically?"

"Because I'm saying that he will come right to us. He will want to see us personally." _He will want to see me personally._

"_That_ much, I had assumed already."

"Heh. I wish we could meet up with him on _our _terms, not his. Pretty sure that's what Tails had in mind when he suggested we find Eggman." As my little bro's name left my mouth, I felt a slight pang of worry for him. Were he and Shadow okay? I hoped the Elites left them alone after capturing us. I didn't want to imagine Tails being pinned to a wall somewhere, unable to escape, like I was.

It was almost as bad as imagining him being stuck in a room with only Shadow for conversation.

"I can't imagine how we're going to get out of here," Espio said. "This is tricky." He didn't sound positive, but he didn't sound discouraged either; only tactical and realistic.

There was muffled noise coming from outside. If Espio heard it too, he didn't betray himself. I glanced in the direction of the door. It was too dim for me to quite see the door at all, but I knew it was there. No light was coming from the area, a pretty promising indicator that it was still closed. The feeling in the pit of my stomach, though, told me that that noise had indeed signaled the arrival of someone.

As much as we both hoped it was Tails and Shadow, I knew deep inside that it would be none other than the Elites… or Eggman himself. "Shhh," Espio whispered, and I knew he knew it too. "Nobody has entered yet, but they might be listening. If they are Elites, perhaps we can remain quiet enough and still enough to prevent them from detecting us."

I had the urge to look down at my hands and feet, as if the restraints themselves held the answers to my escape. I kept still, though, as did Espio, listening in anticipation. "You're right, this'll be tricky," I said under my breath, offering a challenging smile, "but if we can't get out of here now… we can take what's coming with dignity until we _can_."

He smirked back with pride and poise. Again, I found myself thinking he was a good person to be trapped in a room with.

"Spoken like a ninja," he said to me. Then the door swung open, bathing the room in a sudden wealth of blinding daylight.

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Up next: where did Shadow and Tails end up, and how in the world could the Master Emerald have wanted things to work out this way? Also, Tails discovers what Sonic has been keeping from him for months…


	15. Ch 15: The Merciless Truth

Happy new year, all! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and whatnot. For some reason, I thought I had updated more recently, but it's actually been a while, hasn't it? I think I _intended _to update some time around Christmas, forgot, and then forgot that it had only been an intention and that I never actually put it up.

So, here we have a chapter that took twice as long as it should have. Oops. At any rate…

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 15: The Merciless Truth

Shadow awoke to the sound of monotone voices and clinking metal.

"Doctor Eggman, targets two and three are secured at underground prison number seven near the barrier's northwest edge."

There was a beep, then the scientist responded, his voice marred by static and fuzz. "You _are _out of earshot of them, right?"

"No, we are not, doctor, but both targets are unconscious. We are transporting them downstairs to the prison as I speak. The trap door at the top of the stairs is secure, so they would not be able to escape even now."

Shadow kept his body limp as the robots carried him. His legs dragged on the stairs. For a moment, he considered trying to break their grip. Both the robots holding him obviously thought he was still unconscious; any sudden he movement he made would likely catch them off-guard. He decided instead to wait and listen to the rest of their exchange with Eggman.

"Once they are in the actual prison room," the scientist began, "I want the door down in the doorframe, along with the set of bars on each side of it for reinforcement. I also want two of you Elites standing guard; one just on the outside of the bars and one just inside the trap door, at the top of the stairs. Understood?"

"Your command is clear, Doctor." The robots, with Tails and Shadow in tow, rounded a corner and made their way down another flight of stairs. Shadow's shoes thudded against the top of each one in rhythm as they went. "Would you like the other two Elites to return to guard duty?"

"Yes. Another squad of G.U.N. spies has been found a few miles outside the barrier. They were trying to find a way to sneak past the exterior guards so they could reach the barrier. I had them brought through the barrier by the transfers just now, and I want them questioned." I must know what G.U.N. has planned. My force is just as strong as theirs at this point, but I still will not allow them to find a way through the barrier."

Shadow had to make an effort to keep his ears from pricking up and betraying his wakefulness. Transfer robots? Was that how Eggman was able to override his own barrier? All along, Shadow assumed that the doctor had a way; he had created the barrier, after all. The hedgehog had never begun to imagine what that way could be, though.

"Would you like the spies in the same questioning chamber as targets one and four, Doctor?"

"Absolutely not. I want Sonic and Espio alone. There are five other chambers throughout the empire. You know where they are. Meet up with the guards and find them an empty one."

"Of course, Doctor."

"On second thought," Eggman said, "only one of you needs to see to the G.U.N. soldiers. I want three of you, not two, to remain where you are. I must be confident that Tails and Shadow will not escape. Shadow especially, but the fox as well."

"Do you have questions you would like me to ask them, Doctor?"

"No. I will do that myself once I have chatted with Sonic for a time. The things I need to know from Shadow are very specific and I don't if you can handle that yet."

"Regarding the Eclipse Cannon, Doctor?"

"Yes. Shadow was created by the same wonderful man who is responsible for the Eclipse Cannon, my grandfather Gerald Robotnik, and they lived together for a time on the ARK before the incident with dearest Maria. He would definitely know how to activate this wonderful weapon."

_Maria?_

Shadow was having an increasingly harder time staying quiet.

"Doctor, do you plan to use it with only five Chaos Emeralds instead of all seven?"

"If I can find the last two, I will use them, as well. If not, five will suffice. It will be enough to destroy G.U.N. and several surrounding cities, preventing anyone who hears about it from daring to oppose me again. I fear that channeling the energy into the Cannon from the barrier will deactivate the barrier altogether… but at that point, I suppose it won't matter. No one will want to attack my force after such a powerful mass genocide."

"Would you like me to ask the fox questions, Doctor?"

"No. I need to take him up to Space Colony ARK for technical help, so that will have to wait until I arrive as well."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. Now stop talking to me. You'll waste your battery."

There was another beep, and the connection was disestablished. Tails and Shadow were carried down one last flight of stairs and deposited carelessly in the prison room. All four Elites turned around and promptly left, the last one turning and slamming down a metal door behind itself. As Shadow had overheard, a set of steel bars came down over it. They were locked in.

He waited a few minutes, just in case the Elites could detect movement through the metal door. He didn't want them to realize he had been awake all along. Once he figured it had been a safe amount of time, he rolled over and sat up. His legs felt like rubber; the fight had been a rough one even for him, and it had still been only minutes since he woke up.

The walls and ground were made of a tawny, smooth stone. The room was almost a perfect square, and about the size of a large bedroom. A large, bright torch in each corner provided a generous amount of light, though it was the only thing that could be considered generous about the prison. It contained no furniture, décor, or even bedrolls.

"Hiya, Shadow."

Shadow turned to face the fox, who was only a few shades lighter than their surroundings. He had pushed himself up and was sitting against the wall nearest to them for support.

"Did they take the Chaos Emerald?"

"No," Tails replied. "I held onto it inside my glove. They never noticed, even though it was right under their noses."

"You should let me take that for now. It would be better hidden in my quills."

Tails hesitated. "Is that really a suggestion? Will you try to take it from me if I say I'd rather keep it?"

"No. But you'd be stupid to do such a thing."

Shadow watched as the younger one took off his glove and removed the Chaos Emerald from it. "That was the correct answer," he said, gazing into the brightness in his hands, "even though that was kind of a mean way of putting it. Maybe I would be stupid to try and hide it myself, since it sounds like Eggman is coming. But was I stupid for asking you that question?" He tossed Shadow the Emerald.

"I suppose not." The hedgehog chuckled a little, catching the Emerald. "It appears you are as clever as Faker says you are."

"I hope he's okay. I really, really didn't like the sound of Eggman's voice when he said he was going to see Sonic and Espio."

"So you were awake, as well."

"I was never asleep to begin with, actually," the fox admitted. "But I couldn't stop them at that point. I was too hurt and dazed to fight them anymore, and I couldn't loosen their grip in the slightest. I'm still really achy."

"Well. At least I don't have to repeat everything to you."

"The Eclipse Cannon…" Tails said in dreadful awe, as if the severity of what he had overheard just registered. "Shadow, we have to stop this! If we can deactivate the barrier, which is what we were trying to do anyway, it'll break the link with the Eclipse Cannon and we can take the Chaos Emeralds! Speaking of which… do you know about the Eclipse Cannon? Eggman seemed to think you could help him out with it."

_Of course I know about the Eclipse Cannon. You fools don't even realize how much I want to use that weapon to destroy this damn planet. The human race deserves it for their selfishness, save for Maria… but she's already dead because of that selfishness._

Shadow recalled a deal Eggman had tried to make with him after the barrier was already up, but before he met Sonic. They had discussed their common goal of using the Eclipse Cannon, and agreed that if Shadow helped find the remaining Chaos Emeralds and agreed to use the cannon without causing harm to the Eggman Empire, then Eggman would free the other five Emeralds so that Shadow could use them to go back in time to change Maria's fate. At first, Eggman had questioned why Shadow required all seven for time traveling. Shadow had responded that in order to grant Maria a full life, he not only had to time-travel and change the course of events; he also had to cure her of her fatal disease, which required a great deal of healing power from the Chaos Emeralds. It would take all seven to do the job.

Shadow had turned down that deal, preferring to gather the Emeralds himself so he could go about his journey his own way. He hadn't realized at the time how complicated it would be to try and free the Chaos Emeralds from the barrier. Now he was deeply considering accepting Eggman's offer.

But if he did, it would be on more equal terms. The Ultimate Life-form had no plans to wait in a cold, underground dungeon for the doctor's arrival.

"I know nothing of how to help him," Shadow said after a moment. "I only know of its existence because of my time on Space Colony ARK."

"What was that like, anyway? I heard it was one of the most advanced research centers in existence, at the time. Speaking of which… wow, you're old. But you were created to never age, so I guess you're not."

"I am immortal."

"I know, I believe you've mentioned it once or twice," Tails muttered with a grin. "But, like, how was it living up there with all those scientists?"

"I was little more than a project to them," he said bitterly, "save for Maria and Professor Gerald. Those two were my friends. Professor Gerald was my creator, so it makes sense that he would treat me decently. Maria, though… What she saw in me, I will never understand. She treated me with far more respect than I deserved. I loved her in the same way Sonic loves you. But then G.U.N. became suspicious of Gerald's studies and invaded the space colony. One of those soulless bastards killed Maria."

"…Oh. Shadow, I didn't even realize that you…"

"Were capable of emotion? That's what Sonic said, as well."

"That wasn't what I was going to say. I'm… I'm sorry about Maria. I can only imagine how I would feel if something happened to Sonic, or how he would feel if something happened to me. I don't even want to think about it. I really am sorry."

"Hmph." Shadow turned away from Tails, towards the door. He held up the Chaos Emerald. "I am leaving now."

"Wait!" Tails exclaimed, suddenly on his feet. "Where are you going? What about me?"

In a moment of uncontainable frustration, Shadow whirred around and came within a foot of Tails's face. "What more do you expect me to give you, fox? I saved your damn life – I owe you nothing!"

There was a moment of confused, awkward quiet.

"No you didn't," Tails said, fixing Shadow with a perplexed stare. "What are you talking about?"

No longer caring about Sonic's wishes, the Ultimate Life-form turned a menacing glower on the fox. "Do you remember when you were poisoned?" He asked in a voice of unnerving calm. "What happened on the twenty-seventh night?"

"The twenty—hey, how do you know about this?" Tails took an involuntary step back. Shadow stepped forward, keeping the distance even.

"Never mind that."

"Um, well… Sonic brought back another Chaos Drive and saved me. It was a really close call. Shadow, how do you know? There's no way you can—"

"That's not what happened at first. Think long and hard, fox."

Said fox slid down against the wall again, putting his head in his hands, looking very much like he was getting a migraine. "Déjà vu," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"When you said that, it made me remember a disturbing dream I had… I was writing a note or something, and I was in the worst pain of my life, and then I passed out. But it… didn't actually happen, it was just one of those really realistic dreams."

"Only it was real," Shadow said. "You died that night."

The vulpine cast Shadow a sidelong glance, thinking to himself that since the hedgehog was created and not born, he was probably malfunctioning or something. "Um," he said, putting one hand on the opposite wrist to check for a pulse and grinning at Shadow in a very Sonic-y fashion, "I'm pretty sure I'm not dead."

"Don't you know anything about Chaos Control? Someone as smart as you would have at least heard about time warps."

"Well, yeah, I have, but that's…"

"That's what?"

"No. That just… doesn't happen. Look Shadow, I know you don't like us much, but this isn't funny! Can we just drop this whole thing?"

"You don't get it. The last thing I'm trying to do is be funny," Shadow snapped. "Chaos Control saved you. If the universe's ideas had been left alone that night like they _should have been_, you would be nothing more than a cold, dead corpse six feet under the ground, just like Maria!"

Tails's gloved hands were squeezing the soft, golden fur at his temples. He was shaking with the effort of holding back the unshed tears. Whether the words were true or not – and he was deeply afraid now that they were – they stung. No one had ever said anything like that to him.

"I don't believe you," he whispered.

"Even if I thought you meant that, you don't have to believe me. Your memory is all the proof you need." Shadow stood still for a moment, watching the fox attempt to restrain his sobs, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, and tears dripping on the ground between his legs. "I am leaving now," he said, again holding up the Chaos Emerald. "You can stay here in privacy."

"_Wait!_" Tails cried frantically.

Shadow paused, that being the only sign that he had heard. He didn't speak or move.

The fox looked at him incredulously, suddenly a child again. "You're… you're really going to just leave me here?"

"Funny how quickly things change when someone is desperate. One moment you accuse me of being a liar, the next you're begging me for help."

"I don't _beg_!" Tails snapped stubbornly. "Fine. Forget this… I don't need your help… I can… I can handle this myself."

"Wonderful. I'm glad that's established. Chaos—"

One last time, Tails paused him, this time with a stern finger. It was a display of authority and control that he knew he didn't have, but he didn't know what else to do. "You won't be able to overcome the powers of the other five Chaos Emeralds with your one! I'm good with technical stuff, you know that," he said, speaking quickly, fully expecting Shadow to teleport mid-sentence. "If you let me help, we can combine both of our talents to try and find a way to take down the barrier, like we were going to before."

"You're just saying this so that I won't leave you behind."

"But still!" The fox protested, weakly pushing himself to his feet again. "It's true, isn't it? I can help. Then I'll leave you alone and you'll never see me again, I swear. I won't be dead like you seem to want me to be, but... hey!" His voice grew suddenly stronger, more confident. "If this entire thing was the other way around, how would you feel if Sonic left Maria trapped in an underground dungeon to get questioned while he went off and did his own thing? Which _Sonic _would never do, by the way."

The glower had never left Shadow's face. As Tails finished his argument, though, it finally began to soften at the edges. Silently, slowly, the hedgehog raised an arm for the fox to grab onto. He clung to it for dear life, and for the third time, the Chaos Emerald was raised in preparation to teleport. "Brace yourself, and don't resist any sensation you feel. This will only take a few seconds, but for the first-timer it feels like minutes."

Tails nodded. The warp was easy, because he was already distracted enough to not worry about it. The only thing he could think about was how Sonic had gone back in time to save his life, and went out of his way to keep him from discovering it.

On one hand, he could understand why. Who would want to tell someone they died, and weren't even technically supposed to exist? But on the other hand… brothers weren't supposed to keep secrets.


	16. Ch 16: Pushing the Limit

So - who's played Sonic Colors? Anybody have any thoughts on it? Personally, I find it a little too lighthearted for my tastes, but I suppose that makes sense coming from me (points at Chapter 16). I really don't mind lightheartedness, it's just that it was almost childish. Its redeeming quality, however, was the genuine brotherly bond there was between Sonic and Tails. Do you know how long I've waited for a game that showed the bond between those two as much as _I _do? FOREVER. I think their relationship was really well done... I'll even say fantastic. But the 'humor' in the plot was so ridiculous at times it made them seem a tad out of character.

Oh, one more thing before the chapter starts: there has been a huge update on my profile about Survivor's Resolve. If you're interested in the story, you should add me to your author alerts so that you get notified when it starts. It's not part of this series, but Sonic and Tails will still be main characters, and the plot is going to be epic. I'm hoping for it to be the best thing I've ever written, so please check it out.

M'kay, that's all I've got for the moment. Here's Chapter 16.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 16: Pushing the Limit.

_I've got more important things to do than die._

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I had the urge to look down at my hands and feet, as if the restraints themselves held the answers to my escape. I kept still, though, as did Espio, listening in anticipation. "You're right, this'll be tricky," I said under my breath, offering a challenging smile, "but if we can't get out of here now… we can take what's coming with dignity until we _can_."

He smirked back with pride and poise. Again, I found myself thinking he was a good person to be trapped in a room with.

"Spoken like a ninja," he said to me. Then the door swung open, bathing the room in a sudden wealth of blinding daylight.

My eyes squinted regardless of my intention to keep them open. We had been knocked out, and waking up in a room almost as dark as the back of my eyelids had been wasn't great preparation for sunlight. It passed quickly, though, and in a moment the comfortable semi-darkness returned as the door was closed.

Doctor Eggman's heavy silhouette shifted along the opposite wall as his voice resonated loudly: "Testing; one, two. Testing!"

And then Espio screamed in surprise. He locked it off quickly, but it was still one of the loudest things I had ever heard from him. At the wall across from us, Eggman had pressed a button on one of the electrical units attached to the chameleon. I was about to shout at him to stop when he did it to me.

I felt my whole body jolt with the shock of the pain. In that moment I understood why we were attached to two units each. It was so that the current of electricity would travel only between two pads at a time, so that a cross-current over the heart would be avoided.

Almost as quickly as it started, the pain stopped.

"No pre-game talk this time, Eggman?" I asked with a smirk.

"Not this time, dear hedgehog," he responded. "This time, I would prefer to save us both some stress and get right down to business."

"Now we're on the same page! The faster the better!"

Eggman chuckled. "I said nothing about this going by fast, Sonic." I could see over his shoulder as he leaned down and turned a knob on the machine. It had a simple, digital screen, like a clock. As Eggman rotated the knob, the display changed from '9% output' to '11% output.' I didn't know much about electricity, but it wasn't hard to grasp what that meant. Wanting to warn Espio to brace himself, I glanced over at him, but he nodded at me that he had seen it too.

Instead of activating the unit again, Eggman straightened up and turned to face me, ignoring Espio for the moment. Taking the controller in his hand, he walked several slow steps forward until he was within a few feet of me. I tilted my head back slightly to meet his eyes. After a second he crouched down to my level, staring me in the face. We glared at each other for a long moment. Neither of us looked away. "Just give in, Sonic," he whispered. I don't think he realized the slight plea in his own voice. He was desperate inside, knowing that he couldn't win while I was around.

In response to his request, I grinned. "Have we met?" I asked in a voice of quiet, cool sarcasm.

As it turns out… two percent makes a world of difference.

"Ugh!" I groaned in pain. It was like thousands of needles were working their way up and down my ribcage. The shock pierced through my skin, muscles, all the way down to the bone. My back wanted to arch and I wanted to cry out in earnest, but I allowed neither.

"Will you stop with the wisecracks, please?" I heard Eggman ask through a fog of dizziness. He did not turn off the electricity.

Just to piss him off, I tried to think of a suitable wisecrack. It was impossible to think through the agony. I couldn't believe he hadn't turned it off yet. How long was he planning on letting me get electrocuted?

Finally, mercifully, it stopped. My knees wanted to collapse beneath me. I made myself keep them straight so that my arm restraints wouldn't have to hold all my weight. Things were uncomfortable enough as they were without having metal dig into the bottom of my wrists.

"Believe me," Eggman began, hands behind his back, towering above me. "It will be far easier on you to agree to my terms. You have heard it said that there are fates worse than death, I trust?"

I felt unbreakably resolute, and I made sure he knew it with my next words. "I don't buy into that. I'd rather be alive than dead at any cost. If you really want to give me the worst fate possible, you'd just have to kill me – and I know you don't want to do that."

"That much, I will not deny. That would make it too easy for both of us, and things would get boring after a while if only one of us existed, am I right?" I didn't exactly nod in agreement, but the feelings were mutual. I hated the things that Eggman did, but I wasn't a killer, and neither was he.

I glanced down to the other end of the hall, where the G.U.N. soldiers were piled in a lifeless heap. Maybe he _was _a killer.

"Don't look at me like that," the doctor said. "I did not intend for my Elites to end those lives. In fact, it angered me; if they're dead, they can't tell me what G.U.N. is up to."

This was true.

"But never mind that," Eggman said. "You will not end up that way, I assure you. I also assure you that I will change your mind about your fate. You will join with me!"

"You can't make me do anything, Robotnik, and you know it!" I said, using his real name for emphasis.

"I don't know about that. It is easier said than done, but I do believe it can be done. You know what else is easier said than done?" A few seconds of dreadful silence passed. I just glared at him as he rotated the knob from '11% output' to '14% output.' He looked back down at me with an evil smile. "Enduring this."

I squeezed my eyes shut tight as he turned on the electricity again. I could still feel his eyes on me, scrutinizing me, gauging my reaction. I held my breath, trying not to scream. It was unbearable. I had been electrocuted once before, a long time ago, by a weapon on the Black Hawk, Eggman's old battle fortress. It had been years, and as with all memories, my recollection of it dimmed over time, so I didn't remember how profoundly painful the experience was. Now I remembered.

Now I remembered better than I ever wanted to remember.

I was sweating. I wanted to cry out, to tell him to stop, it was too much. It just wasn't in my nature to do such a thing. My mind wouldn't even let me; through years of experience, I had unconsciously conditioned myself to be able to handle anything that came my way. Even when I couldn't handle it.

I tried to tell myself I wasn't at that point yet. Tried to tell myself I had been through worse before. That much was true, but being through worse doesn't automatically make every other situation easy.

What was the point of holding on, anyway? I knew there WAS a point, but for a second, I didn't know what it was. After all, Eggman wasn't going to stop, whether I _chose _to endure it or not. It was a situation I was stuck in either way, so why did my reaction matter?

I couldn't figure it out. Then I decided I didn't need a reason. I just had to do what I had to do.

"Sonic, Sonic, Sonic," Eggman said in an amused tone, looking down at me. He rotated the knob again, but to my relief, it was in the opposite direction. The pain subsided ever so slightly. It was enough for me to get a hold of myself. I knew that was what Eggman was aiming for; he wanted me to be focused enough to hear what he was about to say. "You make things so difficult for yourself. See, I am no longer afraid to be persuasive. Neither of us is unaware that I am not the man I used to be. It took me a while to realize the right way to do things, but now that I have, it has paid off greatly."

Things were not comfortable by any means. It was still a struggle to listen to him at all. I didn't know why I even _wanted _to listen to him. His voice was making me sick.

"Having said that," he continued, tone turning icy, "I can _indeed _be quite convincing when I feel it is a means to a preferable end… for me, anyway." His hand was on the knob again.

His bark was greater than his bite. I could definitely appreciate a smart remark, but at least when I was the one making it, I could then _do _what I said I would do. I had yet to see him act on his words.

Mostly because he was prevented from doing so by yours truly.

"Hm," I said nonchalantly. "Pain is temporary. Insanity has a tendency to be permanent. I think I've got the better end of the stick." Oops. That would cost me. Heh.

Before I could even smirk in his face, he turned the knob up several notches. Each percentage he raised the output caused the control to make a clicking sound, and I heard an uncountable amount of clicks in quick succession. The reaction that followed was fast – very fast. I felt my back arch and I inhaled sharply.

Even if I could think through what was happening to me, I wouldn't want to know how high the output was… nor would I want to imagine how much higher it could go still. I felt metal digging into my wrists and ankles as I convulsed unwillingly against the restraints. Though I was on the verge of panic at this point, I wasn't fighting the restraints out of fear – my limbs were doing it on their _own_. I had no control over it. The electricity was making me spasm beyond control.

If I was free, my whole body would be jerking violently. Beyond the agony, something crucial managed to register in my mind: this was not only painful anymore, this was dangerous. The body knows when something is wrong and reacts to it… and while pain was a pretty common thing, it was not common or normal to be thrashing like this without even wanting to.

My heart was pounding inside my chest. I didn't know what to do. The only reason I was even able to attempt to _think _of what to do was because I knew something was terribly wrong. That knowledge was the only thing that was enough to overcome to overwhelming, consuming power of the torment coursing through my body.

_Gotta hang on, gotta hang on, _I kept thinking to myself. I repeated it over and over until it became stuck in my head like a song. What other option was there? There was nothing I could do to get away.

Fueled by a desperate passion to survive, I finally ditched my pride and screamed, "STOP!" at the top of my lungs. It didn't stop. "STOP! _STOP_!" I shouted again. "Eggman…!"

I only heard laughter. Uncaring, disgusting laughter. The only message he got from my screams was me giving in, and he took pleasure in thinking he had finally broken me. I growled in frustration; that was _not _what I had intended. I was not giving in; I was trying to tell him he was going too far!

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, the intensity of the electricity increased twofold. I felt blood running from my wrists, trickling into my gloves, and the edges of the metal restraints were digging into the next layer of skin. It was nothing compared to the jolting, unbearable shock piercing my ribcage.

Did he _know _what he was doing to me? Eggman was an intelligent man – even I couldn't deny that – but it wasn't like he had years of experience using electricity on a living being. He was smart in his element, but this was _not _his element!

I wanted nothing more than to say something, nothing more than to tell him enough was enough; nothing more than to tell him to use another method. I put my life on the line on a regular basis, but those times were my _own _prerogative, and they were situations that I was confident I could get through in one piece. And even if I couldn't, at least it would be for a reason. What was happening right now… it had no purpose aside from Eggman's vengeance. He _knew _I wasn't going to join him; that he asked me to anyway was just his way of justifying what he was doing to me now. It had no real purpose. Getting through this wouldn't benefit anyone, wouldn't stop Eggman from continuing the progress of the empire. If something was going to happen to me, I didn't want it to be for nothing! This wasn't how it was supposed to be!

My voice wouldn't work. I tried to say something, but all that came out was an incomprehensible groan. I couldn't even communicate to him that he was going to injure me, or permanently paralyze me, or… _kill_ me.

Then I had an idea.

What would be the point of continuing to torture me if I passed out? When you're unconscious you don't feel anything, so it would only be a waste of electricity. I couldn't force myself to pass out, but there was one thing I could do.

I could fake it.

Something like that is much easier to deal with as a thought, and even then it's hard to comprehend. In a truly excruciating situation, the _last _thing anyone feels is relaxed. My muscles were tense and not only because of the convulsions; I was tense, too. My eyes were squeezed shut. I was breathing through my locked teeth. My hands were in fists. My back was arched as much as it could be against the wall. My quills, stiff from tension, were probably leaving marks on the marble.

But now was not the time to doubt myself, and I didn't.

My body would still convulse. There was nothing I could do about that. But Eggman was observant enough to tell the difference between my voluntary actions and my involuntary actions. I just had to hope that when I was 'unconscious,' he would know it.

One thing at a time. I stopped resisting the convulsions, letting them occur. I collapsed my knees, dropping my weight, allowing the restraints to support it. It actually made the seizing a little less violent. The metal of the restraints dug into my wrists as my body weight pulled down against them, but it was tolerable. Good start, I thought; one thing at a time.

I tried to slow down my breathing. With my heart pounding as furiously as it was, never mind the exhaustion and pain, it was incredibly difficult. Once I got that far, though, the rest slowly began to fall into place. One thing at a time. I allowed my fists to unclench, and my head to hang forward. A quill flopped and hung in my face. My body was still shaking and twitching. I felt sick to my stomach from the physical stress of the situation. Despite that, I managed to draw a deep, steadying breath. I fell into myself, accepting the situation for what it was, accepting the pain, not trying to resist or ignore anything that was happening. Just letting it happen. I opened my eyes slightly, knowing Eggman wouldn't see since my head was down. I found a spot on the concrete ground, stared at it, blinked gently.

There was a layer moisture on my bottom eyelids from my sweating. I continued to blink, getting rid of it. Inhaling another long breath, I concentrated on bringing the oxygen deep inside my lungs, and exhaling the fear. I was shaking uncontrollably, but that was the remnant of the convulsions. I took another breath, let it settle in my lungs, released it.

In a matter of seconds I felt in control, not of the situation, but of myself. And that was enough. The situation would take care of itself soon.

"You fool," I heard Espio say through a fog of dizziness. "You're going to kill him with such high voltage at such a low frequency. See, he has lost consciousness."

Before Espio finished, Eggman had deactivated the electricity completely, catching on to what had apparently happened before the chameleon had. I resisted the urge to moan in ecstasy. Normalcy was incredibly pleasurable compared to what had just happened to me. I remained limp. The paroxysms stopped completely, and I felt more pressure on my wrists now that I was still. They were beginning to go numb because of the tightness of the restraints, which I was grateful for. My skin was tingling as if my whole body had fallen asleep.

I pictured myself the way the situation must look from the outside, me hanging there, all my weight supported by my wrists, completely still and silent. They had no idea what had _really _just happened, and that I was just as awake as I had been ten minutes ago. Without that knowledge, without knowing I was actually okay and… well, not dead, I had to imagine that the scene looked pretty ominous.

I let my eyes fall closed again, relaxing for real. Sweat was soaking my fur, making it cling to my skin, but I didn't care. Nothing sounded better than sleep right then. I was drained.

_Stay with it, Sonic._

My eyes snapped open. It was the Master Emerald, its genderless voice piercing into my thoughts. _You again! _I thought. _So. Want to explain this mess you got me into? If I tried to help Tails, neither of us would be locked away right now._

_ Yes, you would. The difference is that you would be where he is right now instead – but I assure you, you would still be trapped somewhere._

A bead of sweat trailed down my forehead, dripping off my eyelid as I blinked. _Why does it matter, then?_

_ Because you are in the area of the Eggman Empire that you need to be in right now. Tails and Shadow are quite some distance away. You need to be _here.

_ How come? _It seemed an obvious question, but knowing what I knew about the Master Emerald, it would not answer any question I didn't ask.

And even when I asked, chances were often slim.

_ You will see if you escape._ Yeah, like I said.

_ No, _I thought, _tell me now!_ My patience was running on empty. Given the circumstances, I felt I had a right to know what was going on.

The Master Emerald, of course, ignored my demand. _Stay awake or you could be putting many lives at risk, along with your own. Now is not the time for me to explain what I mean by that, but you will find out soon enough. I cannot tell you how long you will be trapped, but you must withstand it either way. Can you do that?_

Despite the circumstances, despite my irritation, despite the lingering aftertaste of intense agony, I grinned. It wasn't a grin of cockiness or arrogance, but of a deep, determined will to survive. _Of course I can. I've got more important things to do than die._

_Your passion for life is very respectable._

I don't know what I was about to say – or think – next, but I never said it, because my attention was snagged by something else. An inconspicuous glance down the hall confirmed what I thought I had seen in my peripheral vision. Or rather, what I _hadn't _seen: Espio's body.

Of course, I knew what was going on immediately. He had camouflaged. But then something profound occurred to me: it was very likely that Eggman didn't even know about Espio's ability. The chameleon obviously would not want his enemies to know of his tactics. It only made sense.

Eggman grasped my shoulders and shook me violently. "Wake up, hedgehog! This is not settled yet!"

I moaned something incomprehensible. Just for a good act. Eggman shook me harder. My shoulders felt like they were being knocked around inside their sockets.

"Ugh," I muttered, faking grogginess. "Ow… what…"

"Are you awake?"

"Wish I wasn't…" I mumbled.

The doctor grabbed my chin and jerked it up, forcing me to look at him, crunching my quills against the wall in the process. I winced. "You are a stubborn rodent. You can do nothing to stop the rise of my glorious empire, anyway."

I met his eyes with a sense of calm ferocity. "Listen to yourself. Haven't you said that before about your other projects?"

For a change, he just sighed, not making a remark like he usually did. He was impatient, too. "Fine," he said, folding his arms. "I will release you without the prerequisite of your alliance, for the small price of your _cooperation_.

"And what does my 'cooperation' involve?" I asked, wondering if I could 'agree' to his terms and get myself out of this mess.

"I know you must have an idea of where the remaining Chaos Emeralds are by now – that is, if you don't already _have _them. You will tell me."

Well. I couldn't fake a compromise if it involved handing over real details right here and now. That was not an option. I would just have to grin and bear it. "No can do."

Eggman threw his hands up. "I don't believe you!"

"Are you shocked?" Heh.

He turned on his heels, his red coat whipping me in the face as he did, and strutted irritably towards where Espio wasn't. It was funny, because even though I couldn't see his face, I could pinpoint the millisecond he realized his other prisoner was missing. He stopped dead in his tracks, fists clenched at his sides. "How did he escape!" He demanded.

"I don't know, do I? I've been unconscious the last few minutes, courtesy of you."

"But this… Even if he were _able _to work his arm further through the cuff and reach the lever, he would not have been able to _switch _it. Doing so would involve turning his arm at an impossible angle against the restraint…" I watched Eggman watching the system of restraints. "They are all still closed, though. He must be very thin-boned to be able to slip out of them." Struck with confusion, for once, Eggman began fiddling with the restraints. I hoped he wouldn't touch Espio and realize what had happened; that would ruin everything.

"Hmm…" he mumbled, pulling the lever to open the restraints, then closing them, then opening them again, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Only because I was listening for it did I hear the soft thud of feet hitting the floor right after the restraints were opened the first time. I could picture Espio cautiously making his way around the huge barrier that was Eggman. I wondered if he was watching me trying to find him. I prepared to run if he freed me, hoping my legs would work.

But Espio didn't immediately come to where I was pinned.

I watched as Eggman was tackled to the ground by an invisible force, landing hard on his front, banging his chin on the floor. There was a loud, crisp thud that I could only guess was a punch to the temple. The attack left Eggman in a completely vulnerable position, not yet unconscious but no longer completely conscious, either, and at the mercy of a lifetime ninja.

Said ninja came into view just in time for me to see a knife being held against the doctor's neck. I gasped.

"Espio! _NO!_"

The blade was digging into the tender flesh, but he hadn't yet made the slice. "Why?" The chameleon's voice was frighteningly calm.

"Hear me out! I know it seems like killing him would be for the better, but he's the only one who can get through the barrier! I know it's not like he's going to tell us his secret anyway, but still, I don't want to kill him only to find out later that he was our only way to get outside the barrier."

Even though I was not a killer, I might have wanted Eggman dead, if not for that one inconvenience. It would mean less excitement for me, but that wasn't what fighting Eggman was about anymore. He had become an incredibly dangerous person, and things had gone too far. Too many people had been hurt. It was at the point where the world was better off without him. But the same person who had created the barrier was also the only one who knew how to deactivate it or get through it. We couldn't destroy that knowledge.

Quietly, Espio tucked away the blade and placed his hands on either side of Eggman's throat. Five seconds passed, and then the doctor went limp, completely unconscious.

Not wasting any time, Espio jogged over to me and threw the switch. I had trusted myself to keep my balance, but my legs betrayed me, unable to support my weight by themselves, and I found myself on my hands and knees. The electricity had taken its toll. Weakly, I looked up at my ally. "You just saved my life."

Espio looked smug for a moment, but then his sense of ninja-honor kicked in. "You saved your own life," he disagreed, not accepting the credit. "I see what you did there, and that was a smart move. If Eggman knew you were conscious, he would have continued using the electricity, and the low frequency could have seriously injured or killed you." He met my eyes as I pushed myself up enough to lean against the wall. "You have a respectable degree of self-control, to be able to endure that without movement or sound, and I admit I am somewhat impressed."

My turn to be smug. "Heh, heh. Guess I'm just tough like that."

He rolled his eyes, but not unpleasantly, before turning and heading for the door. "Don't be so _modest_."


	17. Ch 17: Betrayal

Meant to have this up three hours ago, when it was still technically Valentine's Day, just to update on Valentine's Day. But I got distracted by this surprisingly great story called He Is My Master by Chiisai Kitsune. If you're a Sonadow fan, or even if you're not, you should check it out. I definitely don't ship Sonadow but even I think it's great. Just sayin'.

Anyway, onto my _own _Sonic fanfic. Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day with lots of chocolate.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 17: Betrayal

On his back, hands behind his head, Knuckles' view was of the deep blue sky above, vibrant and cloudless. As he rose and faced the sight off in the distance, though, it was instead a foggy, polluted grey. He could hardly see the buildings and forests beneath the sky of Eggman's Empire. One day, he imagined, the construction would be finished and air would be fresh and clear again, even if there was some fortress or base or nightmare of a carnival where the Mystic Ruins would have been.

Turning away from the dismal sight, and not missing it for a second, Knuckles approached the Master Emerald. It had not communicated with him for days, but the last time it had, it had warned that it was getting extremely dangerous within the empire. Although glad he was not trapped in there, he knew that hundreds of others were, including Sonic and Tails. It was just as important to Knuckles to destroy the barrier as it was to the people trapped inside, not only because he wanted to stop Eggman, but because it was his duty. It would only be a matter of time before Eggman came after the Master Emerald, and as powerful as he was getting, it was likely he would succeed. He _had _to do something.

Sonic and Tails were undoubtedly trying to bring down the barrier and the empire from the inside, and Knuckles had told the Master Emerald to aid them in any way it could. Still, it didn't feel like enough. He was furious at the whole situation, and at how inadequate he felt.

He slammed a fist down on the Master Emerald in anger, and left it there, still clenched, glaring into the bright green long enough for it to make him see dots when he looked away.

He had to do something.

"Where is he now?" Knuckles asked. He didn't really have to speak aloud – the Master Emerald would hear his thoughts if he allowed it to – but he was alone, and he was simply used to talking as a means of communication. "Has he gotten any closer to the last Chaos Emerald?"

_By following my lead, he has gotten very much closer, and he did so quicker than I expected. This is not to understate the severity of the struggle it took to get there, though._

"What happened?" Knuckles asked, then swished his hand. "Never mind, that doesn't matter right now. So, he's closer to the last Emerald. What is that going to do, aside from preventing Eggman from getting it? Will it help anything?"

_The odds of it helping are slim. Doctor Eggman has five Chaos Emeralds, as you know, and is producing robots at a rate that even Sonic cannot keep up with. There are also hundreds of humans being held in Grand Metropolis, forced to work on Eggman's projects._

"Does Sonic know about this?"

_No. It is pointless for him to know, as this problem will take care of itself if Eggman can be stopped._

"You don't think it'd be a good motivator?"

_Sonic is motivated already. It would only infuriate him, as there's nothing he can do about it at the moment. Grand Metropolis is outside the barrier at the present time._

"Even if we don't have a solution for the barrier, if he could somehow stop Eggman, wouldn't that be enough? It would stop peoples' suffering and you would be safe."

_Stopping Eggman, and thereby keeping my powers from him, is the priority. If that can be done without removing the barrier, then the barrier is secondary. We can worry about it later._

"But that's the thing, isn't it? It's an infinite loop. Nobody knows how to stop him without getting rid of the barrier first. If the barrier was gone, we could get G.U.N. in there. Them, Sonic, me, and everyone else involved in this battle would at least have a fighting chance. As it is, though…"

_Were you going to finish that thought?_

The Master Emerald, obviously sightless, could not see the look of astonished realization that had suddenly crossed Knuckles' face. "…No."

The echidna whirred around and walked nearly to the edge of Angel Island, looking out over the empire. He was silent for a long moment, thinking. "You say Sonic hasn't found the last Emerald yet, right?"

_Right. He is close. I can tell him where it is if he does not discover it himself, but I do not know how he will get it._

"Don't worry about that. Wherever it is, I'm sure Sonic can find a way to reach it. Unless, you know, it's in the middle of the ocean or something. But anyway… I have an idea. If we can make it work, we can give Sonic and Tails the advantage with the last Emerald alone. I don't know if you will be able to pull it off, though."

It had been almost a year since the Master Emerald had drained its excess of power into the Chaos Emeralds, temporarily making them Super Emeralds. It had been almost a year since it had been used for anything save for communication. Knuckles knew it was still restoring its strength, and that it would be several years before it was at its full capacity again. It definitely wouldn't be able to make an entire set of Super Emeralds anytime soon, but they didn't need that. They only needed one.

_I wonder if it's enough power…_

Knuckles walked back up the altar's stairs and laid his hands gently on top of the Master Emerald. "Beyond the golden orb lies… an object radiating before your eyes…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Things had been awkward since Shadow and Tails teleported out of the underground prison. The former was irritated and impatient, while the latter was still visibly upset by the argument they had had. His twin tails dragged on the ground, getting dusty and dirty, but he didn't care. He just wanted to find Sonic and Espio, wanted to associate with people who believed he should still be alive.

As Shadow's words ran through his mind over and over again, he wondered whose beliefs were right. Had Sonic tampered with nature? Survival of the fittest? Had fate intended him dead?

He could almost imagine what his best friend would say in response to that: "Don't even listen to Faker. What's fate, anyway? What happens, happens."

Maybe he was right. After all, if he was really supposed to be dead, the Emeralds wouldn't have been capable of time-travel, would they?

The fox argued with himself until they reached the nearest of the five Chaos Emeralds anchoring the barrier. No matter how much he tried to tell himself Shadow was wrong, no matter how much he imagined what Sonic would say, he couldn't quite get past it. But there were more important things at the moment than his insecurities, he reasoned; he could worry about himself later.

"I've found myself at the edge of the barrier so many times, trying to figure out how it works," the fox said. "I feel like I never get any closer… but there has to be a way!"

"I thought you said you could help."

Tails turned to face Shadow. "Me helping you implies that _you _are doing something to begin with! You try destroying this thing and being any less clueless than I am!"

"Hmph." The Ultimate Lifeform strode forward without reservation towards the barrier. Glaring at it, he reached out an experimental hand to touch it. Tails winced, remembering how dramatically the barrier reacted when touched, and was about to warn Shadow, despite his anger. But the hedgehog pressed the palm of his hand to it without even reacting.

Anger and sadness forgotten for the moment, Tails cautiously approached him. "Doesn't that hurt?"

Shadow shrugged indifferently. "I suppose it is stings somewhat."

Tails eyed the almost-invisible barrier suspiciously. Shadow's touch had caused it to be slightly visible; cyan rings were appearing to radiate from Shadow's hand. "That has to hurt. If it doesn't, then the barrier must be getting weaker somehow, unless you have an abnormally high pain threshold."

"You forget one thing: I was created, not born. My genetic properties, so to speak, are different than yours. The chemicals in my body are different than yours. The electric current emitting from this barrier reacts differently than it would with you."

"Are you sure? When you get hit, it hurts just as much as it would hurt someone else, doesn't it? Why should this be any different? It's still pain."

"The source of the pain is not the same. Impact causes injury, and for my own protection I was created so that injury causes me pain. This, however…" Shadow leaned on the barrier with his hand comfortably, "this is not causing me any harm. The electric charge rides the surface of the skin because of its high frequency; it doesn't penetrate. Since it cannot harm me, it is radically less painful than it would be to you."

Tails looked somewhat more convinced, but there was still skepticism etched in his expression.

"Here," the dark hedgehog said, stepping away from the barrier and offering a hand to Tails. He cringed away as if Shadow had made to grab him by force. Shadow dropped his hand, thought for a moment, and then met the fox's suspicious blue eyes. "I… apologize for what I said to you earlier. I cannot pretend to mean those words just because I was angry with you, because I would be betraying Maria's memory. If she had somehow been brought back to life after the accident, or miraculously healed of her deadly disease, I would not have claimed it wrong for her to exist. What happens, happens."

Tails simply stared at him, stunned, before finally saying, "Uh, thanks." Even though he was apologizing mostly in honor of Maria's memory, Tails still appreciated the gesture, because it meant that the speaker of those harsh words himself didn't believe them. "I… I know you don't like me much, and a lot of the time the feelings are mutual, but that really made me feel better, actually. Thanks!"

Shadow nodded curtly, his equivalent of an enthusiastic "Sure thing!" from most people. In that second, the mutual feelings were of appreciation for each other's struggles, losses, and efforts, rather than of dislike.

"What were you going to do before?" Tails asked hesitantly.

"If you want to make sure I'm right, I will touch the barrier again, and you will feel the current through me. It won't be as strong as if you were to touch the barrier directly."

Tails glanced in the general direction of the barrier. "Okay."

For the third time, Shadow touched the electrostatic field, giving Tails a whenever-you're-ready look. The fox stepped forward and slowly made to place a finger on Shadow's forearm. He bit down on his lip; it was an anxious feeling, doing something that you were sure was going to hurt.

As soon as his finger brushed Shadow's fur, he felt the knife-sharp shock throb through his whole body. He screamed and withdrew, pulling back so fast he nearly lost as his balance. "…Whoa! Ow! Okay, point taken, point taken."

Shadow folded his arms, watching him regain his bearings. "Now that that's out of the way, let's attempt to make some real progress."

"You say that like I'm such a nuisance," Tails said, surprisingly looking somewhat amused. "I'm trying to make progress just like you are. I just figured that if the barrier was weaker, we could figure out why and take advantage of it."

"But it's not weaker. So this whole argument was a waste of time."

"No, it wasn't," Tails said, still smiling. "Because it helped me realize something that I might not have realized otherwise. Shadow, you can touch the barrier without getting shocked!"

"Wow."

"I wasn't done yet! I was going to go on to say that this means you can probably touch the Chaos Emeralds, too!" Tails's hands were clenched in excited fists. "And wait, wait, I know what you're going to say, it doesn't matter because it's immovable anyway. Well, it's not moveable _manually_, because it's part of the barrier. But if you hold onto it and cause Chaos Control – Shadow! I think this is the answer, after all these months! I think this will destroy the barrier!"

Without a word, the Ultimate Lifeform walked over to where the Chaos Emerald was immobilized, bent down, and rested a hand on it. Tails's bright blue eyes were wide with hopeful anticipation, his heart pounding against the back of his sternum. After what seemed like an eternity of excited waiting, Shadow called the command.

Several things happened at once.

Shadow disappeared from the spot, taking the Emerald with him. There was a loud explosion similar to that of a sonic boom. Tails was suddenly pulled toward the spot where the Emerald had been, then thrust outside what had once been the barrier's limit, as if the instantaneous _lack_ of barrier had created a void that suctioned him towards it. Instinctually, he spun his tails to keep him in the air so he wouldn't go tumbling over himself on the ground. Yards away, inside the limit, the air announced Shadow's reappearance with a distinct crack. As Tails landed, he turned to address the sound at the same time Shadow turned to face him. The silence that ensued as they stared at each other completely defied all the chaotic noise there had been a second ago.

Between them was a small hole in the ground where the Emerald had been implanted for so long. Staring at the hole in awe, Tails breathed,

"Shadow…!"

Seemingly in response, said black hedgehog took off at high speeds, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Tails stood there confused for a moment before realizing he was going to free the remaining four Chaos Emeralds. He took to the air and almost started to follow him, but just as suddenly, let himself drop back to the ground. Something was off, here.

Shadow had stuck with him for the majority of the day. He had reluctantly taken Tails with him when he left the dungeon. After that, he had run at a pace the fox could keep up with as they travelled to the barrier's limit. Then, when they tried to figure out how to deactivate it, Shadow had listened to what he had to say. Although he had been irritable about it, Shadow had allowed Tails's company consistently.

Just now they had discovered the loophole in the barrier. And Shadow had taken off without a second thought.

Instead of following the dark hedgehog, who had taken off in a direction that would lead him counterclockwise to all the Emeralds anchoring the barrier, Tails headed for the adjacent Emerald, in the opposite direction, hoping he could get there before Shadow made it all the way around.

"Sonic, I could really use your speed right now," he muttered to himself. He wished he could go find the hedgehog. It was a hard temptation to resist, especially since he had been conscious throughout the whole fight and hence had seen the direction Sonic and Espio had been taken. He knew, though – had absolute faith – that Sonic would be fine. He could take care of himself.

He realized that the feelings were mutual, that Sonic had faith in him too. Otherwise, he would have come and found him already.

For a moment, he remembered the way he had idolized Sonic as a young child, and felt that way all over again. _I won't let you down, Sonic, or the world, for that matter. If Shadow's up to something, I will do whatever it takes to stop him!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time Shadow reached the site of the last Chaos Emerald, which was unfortunately in a rather deserted area of Mystic Ruins, Tails's namesakes ached to the point of cramping. He was a lengthy distance above ground, taking advantage of the foggy pollution in the area, hoping Shadow wouldn't see him. He could just barely see the Chaos Emerald, so he figured he himself was just as hidden. Shadow would only notice if he was looking.

The hedgehog had taken longer than Tails had expected to make it all the way around the Empire. It was large, but Shadow was just as fast as Sonic. Tails wondered if he had simply underestimated the time Shadow would need or if he had had trouble collecting the other Chaos Emeralds. It didn't matter; he was here now.

Tails maneuvered as the Ultimate Lifeform approached, staying behind him and out of eyesight as much as he could. There was one moment, though, when he caught a glimpse of Shadow's face. If he hadn't been looking for signs, he wouldn't have noticed, but he _had _been looking, and he _did _notice: there was the slight hint of a smirk etched in the dark hedgehog's features.

There was no doubt in Tails's mind now; Shadow was going to keep the Emeralds for himself. Unless someone stopped him.

In that instant, the fox was decided, and there was no turning back. When it was the right moment, he let himself drop through the air. Shadow grasped the last Emerald, teleported, and landed a few yards behind where he had been, just as he had done with the first one – just as Tails had predicted. The air pulled forcefully at him again, but the fox was ready for it. He kept himself steady, eyes locked on Shadow as he descended, letting the brief suction give him a boost in speed.

Half a second had passed since Shadow's teleport. Tails slowed his fall just enough to prevent injury should he miss his target. Just as the hedgehog was about to take off, he slammed full force into him, pushing him into the ground. They bounced and skidded. All five Emeralds went flying. Not hesitating for a millisecond, Tails sprung into the air, namesakes still spinning, and caught three of the Emeralds before they hit the ground. He snatched another one a few feet away as he landed, picking up dirt and grass with it, and secured it in his arms with the rest. The fifth one – the fifth! Where was it?

By the time he spotted it, Shadow had recovered and was dashing towards it – but Tails was still closer, and not all that slow himself. He spun his tails faster and jumped in Shadow's path, making him stumble to dodge his spinning appendages. It was all the advantage he needed; he scooped up the last Emerald and leapt into the air.

Enough of a time lapse went by that he thought he was safe. He was just beginning to think of finding Sonic and Espio again when he felt sudden pressure on his left leg: Shadow had grabbed onto him.

Not even _Sonic _could have jumped high enough to do that.

"You were going to be a traitor after all, then, weren't you?" The fox asked. "Well, two can play at that game!" He dug his right heel into Shadow's wrist. Almost immediately, the hedgehog was forced to let go. The pressure lifted, and Tails ascended rapidly into the air, hoping he would disappear in the smog before Shadow could spot him again.

It was several minutes later, after his breathing had slowed and the adrenaline died down, that he realized there were a few black quills stuck in his face, and small droplets of blood trailing from the wounds they had created. He didn't dare try to pull them out, lest he drop one of the Chaos Emeralds gathered in his arms. He glanced down at the gems, and noticed something he hadn't noticed in the intensity of his escape.

They barely had any color; their energy was drained.

_But that doesn't make any sense… Eggman would want the barrier to last forever, so he would only have it withdrawing Chaos energy at the same rate it could replenish it, wouldn't he?_

Almost as soon as Tails had begun to feel that the battle was coming to an end, he realized that there was something going on behind the scenes… something nobody knew about. If Eggman had been drawing extra power out of the Chaos Emeralds all this time, he was planning to use it for something.

Remembering the things he had overheard on their journey to the underground dungeon, he suddenly realized what it was.

His heart sank in his chest. He had overthrown the barrier, only to realize now that they had been focusing on the wrong problems all along. And now… now it was too late.


	18. Ch 18: Conquering, The Single Moment

(sonamylover111: Hey again! Glad you're still enjoying this, and I hope you like the last few chapters! Thanks again for your sharing your thoughts, and let me know if ya have any questions! ^v^)

Apologies for the delay. When I tried to add the chapter, I kept getting the Error Type 2. Usually it goes away after a few hours but it went on for a while, so I dug around Google and figured out a loophole around it. The error still hasn't been fixed, but that's FFN's problem I guess. At least I can update now. Anybody else having this issue?

Anyway, Chapter 19 should be fairly quick in coming, since I'm already almost done with it at this point! As always, enjoy.

* * *

CHAPTER 18: Conquering; The Single Moment

"I think we're in the Mystic Ruins," Espio said.

Sonic reached behind him and pulled the chamber door shut. "I'm just glad we're not in _there _anymore. You know, I'm no stranger to pain, but that was pretty rough."

The chameleon didn't reply, just nodded in acknowledgment. He was a man of few words. Sonic looked around at the familiar land; the dark, scattered trees; the winding dirt path; the narrow river a few yards away. "Definitely Mystic Ruins," he confirmed after a moment. His eyes looked tired. "I know this place well enough. This is one of the more secluded areas, though. I stopped coming here very often since the water level in the river rose. A tad deep for my liking. Or at least, it used to be. I don't mind it as much as I used to."

"Do you have to cross the river to get to where we are now?"

"Yeah, unless you take the long way around it." Sonic shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as if both were still too weak to hold him up. "And that would have been more trouble than it was worth even for me. The robots that took us here could hover, so they must have just carried us over it."

"You say you haven't been here in a long time, yet you recognized it relatively easily."

Sonic was silent for a moment. "This is where Tails and I met. I would recognize this place no matter what." He looked off at the sparkling river, and at the disorganized path Tails had followed him on all those years ago. "I can't believe Eggman's tainted this place with his stupid empire, too. We have to stop this!"

"We should start by getting ourselves out of here. Perhaps finding Tails and Shadow would be a good idea."

"Yeah…" the hedgehog said, leaning against the outer wall of the chamber and sliding down it until his bottom hit the ground. He groaned impatiently, shaking his head as if he was dizzy. "We don't have time for this…"

Espio turned away, arms folded, and paced a little ways, allowing Sonic his privacy while he recovered. He, of all people, knew how pointless it was to try and function when you simply couldn't. He realized that Sonic's body needed rest after the ordeal he had gone through.

A few quiet, calm moments passed. They both listened to the leaves rustling, the birds chirping. For Sonic, it was a reminder that life still existed even in the midst of Eggman's empty, desolate world… and a reminder and that one day everything would be okay again. Without any doubt in his mind that they would win, Sonic closed his eyes, letting his exhaustion drag him into a deep slumber.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a few hours, the blue blur awoke, stretched, and got to his feet. The sun had set, and he could see stars above him through breaks in the leaves. Seeing Espio practicing martial arts in a clearing not too far away, the hedgehog made his way there at a comfortable jog. The chameleon heard him coming and faced him, wiping sweat from his forehead as he approached.

"Sonic. Are you…?"

Sonic came to a stop in front of him, shifting his weight to a side. "I'm fine. Always am."

The chameleon looked skeptical of Sonic's stability. He had expected him to need a full night's sleep. "Not everyone can execute what you did back there. That kind of fight drains a person."

"Psh. Sure, they could. Just takes you out of your comfort zone for a bit, that's all. We all gotta get through something tough now and then, don't we?" He let his hands drop to his sides, still standing there comfortably, and glanced up at the detective. "How about you? You okay?"

"Perfect."

"Great. Then let's go. We'll follow the path until we make it around to where the river lets out. It'll be a lot easier to follow the shoreline back to where we were than it would be to zig-zag through the forest. I don't have the whole forest memorized, just little bits and pieces, and the path is like a maze."

"Following that logic, won't it be just as complicated trying to find the ocean? We have to follow the path to go that way, too."

"Nah, I know where the ocean is from here. Come on."

They took the route that followed the river closely. A few minutes later, Sonic was proven right as the trees became sparse and finally gave way to the huge body of water before them. The path curved around to run parallel with the shoreline, which was full of sandy dirt and pebbles. "Let's pick up the pace!" Sonic said with a grin, running ahead of Espio.

"You've certainly managed to regain some energy. Or, perhaps, you're just uncomfortable being this close to the water."

"Hah! Are you kidding? I just haven't run since we got captured."

"It has been about seven hours."

"Exactly!"

The chameleon, not nearly as fast as Sonic's best but certainly not slow either, sped up to run alongside the hedgehog. "We should return to the site of the battle. It's possible that the robots holding Shadow and Tails left tracks in their wake."

"Good thinking."

At that moment, Sonic happened to glance off towards the ocean. And at that moment, the light from the moon happened to glint off a shining, metallic object hovering just above the water. These two chance occurrences came together in one inconceivable second. The blue blur stopped dead in his tracks, sending sand flying, facing the water, staring slack-jawed at what he thought he had just seen.

"No way…" It was the glint of a gold ring, whose magical properties would teleport the holder to a place between worlds… a place containing a Super Emerald. "No _way!_"

His mind filled with a flood of memories; his few usages of the Super Emeralds had been by far some of the most intense moments of his life. The first time he had ever used their power was to defeat the Death Egg nearly five years ago. It was an immensely painful transformation, and even the memory of it had been intimidating at times. Neither Sonic nor Tails had ever expected to have to use the Super Emeralds again, but that changed after Zorro, one of Eggman's most powerful robots, destroyed Station Square. It had been necessary, though neither of them had wanted it to be. In the end, though, the power of the Super Emeralds had helped save Sonic's life.

Now, as he stared across the raging ocean at what he knew to be the only Super Emerald in existence right now, he wasn't afraid, and he wasn't intimidated. He didn't know exactly _how _this had happened, but he knew that the Master Emerald had to be responsible.

In their alternate lives, Tails had written him a note before his death. In that note had been a desperate request for Sonic to live his life to the fullest, because it was for him the fox had died. The one thing Sonic remembered most vividly from reading that tragic note was Tails admitting that one of his dreams had been to see Sonic swim.

And because of that, in the fox's memory, Sonic had done so. Combating his intense fear of water, he had taught himself how to swim. The fear never went away. But it didn't have to; he had done something that Tails had always wanted him to do, and if he were honest with himself, something he had wanted to do for himself all along. He had done his best, and taken his phobia as far as it would go. He had refused to let fear win; that was what Tails had wanted.

None of it had happened now that they had altered the path of time. But despite that he had technically never swam before, he couldn't remove the knowledge and skill he had gained from his alternate life. In his mind, he still knew how to swim just as well as if his life's course had never been changed at all.

This, he realized, was why the Master Emerald had urged him in the opposite direction as Tails. So he would end up here. Sonic suddenly felt as if the past however-many months was all preparation for this single moment. If Eggman had never captured Tails all those years ago and gotten his DNA, Zorro would never have existed. If Zorro never existed, Eggman would have never been able to lock Sonic and Tails up in Grand Metropolis and poison them. If they had never been poisoned, Tails never would have died… and Sonic would never have had reason to learn how to swim.

But all of those things _had _happened, and now the only way to save the world from Eggman's reign was to _get the Super Emerald._ The water unnerved him; it was deeper and wilder than any water he had practiced in. The ring was pretty far out, too – far from his reach. But thanks to the past, he knew he could reach it.

Sonic removed his shoes, socks and gloves, and raced for the water without reconsidering, throwing caution to the wind… because he knew that if he didn't, he would change his mind. Espio might have been calling out to him, asking what he was doing, but Sonic would not have noticed. His attention was completely and absolutely set on the Super Emerald.

To his surprise, his speed carried him quite a ways over the surface of the water, shortening his distance. When he felt gravity catching up to him, he let himself fall all the way into the water, staying out of panic's grip. He didn't stop moving his legs during the transition, so that he kept his momentum when he was swimming. His strong, fast legs allowed him to move quickly through the water just as they allowed him to run fast on land. It wasn't quick enough. Going through water could never be quick enough. He kept telling himself that as soon as he grasped that big, gold ring, it would be over. He could use a minimal amount of its power to glide back to land, or something. He just had to make it _there_.

Instead of getting used to the suffocating liquid surrounding him, Sonic found himself feeling more anxious. Even physically, he wasn't adapting to the water. His body wasn't getting used to the cold; instead, it felt as if it was getting colder and colder by the second. His lungs felt paralyzed, and he began gasping for air, even as he told himself to keep his breathing steady.

Water splashed in his face. Immediately he was overcome by an urge to rub the irritation out of his eyes, but knew better than to interrupt his already unstable swimming motions, even for a second. He was almost there; all he had to do was _touch _it…

Moments from the past flashed through his mind. He and Tails had been in a plane crash a few years ago, on their way overseas to find a cure when they were poisoned. They had landed in the water. He had panicked almost the whole time. Tails had been there for him, keeping him above the water, reassuring him. Indeed, everything had turned out okay in the end. Tails wasn't here to reassure him now, but he was _alive,_ and that was enough. The fox would get to _know _that Sonic could swim now.

Sonic also realized he had found one of the Super Emeralds used to defeat Zorro underwater by accident. In a fight, he had been knocked off Angel Island, doomed to drown. Only because the Super Emerald ring had been there had he lived.

The ring he was going toward was mere feet away now. He kicked his legs and stroked his arms as hard as he could to close the distance fast. The whole way there, he had worried to himself that something bad was going to happen, that a large wave would crash down on him or he would mess up his swimming and drown. But nothing dramatic happened; he made it. He grasped the ring with both hands, and immediately felt its warmth enveloping him, taking him away from the world around him… or maybe transforming the world around him. He could never tell.

In the midst of the transformation, he wondered what the purpose of the ring was. Why did the Super Emerald need to be somewhere else? Why couldn't _that _have just been floating above the water instead of the ring? He had found himself wondering that every time he encountered the supernatural gems, but the only guess he could come up with was that it was a means of protection. Beyond the ring always lied some kind of test, so that only the strongest and most clever could reach the Super Emerald.

When the glow around him dissipated, he stood on a translucent, tubular path that looked like it was surrounded by the universe. There were colored orbs in lines before him, appearing to go all the way through the path.

Less than fifty yards away was the Super Emerald, floating above the path slightly. Sonic chuckled. "Trying to fool me, are you? I know it's not this easy." He took a step forward. The Emerald shifted the same length away from him. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Already, Sonic had it figured out: no matter what speed he moved, the Emerald would stay the same distance away from him, unless he used the orbs. They probably contained some kind of mysterious power that would allow him to get closer to the Emerald. He would have until he ran out of path to reach the Super Emerald. If he failed, he would be teleported back to the water. He only had one chance. The ring would relocate after sending him back if he didn't make it.

In his mind, he already had the Emerald in his hand. His speed and quick reflexes were what had helped save the world countless times, and they were what he was famous for. They were his elements, his niche. He had this situation owned.

He stretched his legs and took off at the speed of sound.

The orbs were easy to hit, and disappeared on contact. Each one gave him a tiny boost forward. The vibrant Emerald was still speeding away from him, but he was already getting closer. The path of orbs split off in two directions, each branch arcing up onto the side of the tubular path. Sonic swung to his right, easily collecting all of them, his momentum defying gravity. Then the orbs plummeted back down to the flat part of the path. He turned on a dime and touched them all, then swerved gracefully to continue forward.

A row of spikes up ahead blocked his path. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sonic reacted at just the right moment, hopping only as high as necessary to avoid them so he could keep his speed. He grinned as he landed on the other side and kept running. Up ahead, the path of orbs continued, creating a visual spiral as it went around and around the tube. He sped up, hoping his inertia would keep him from falling off the top of the tube. It was. He kept his eyes set on the next orb as he followed the spiral to avoid getting dizzy.

Every single orb disappeared as he touched it. When he looked up, the Emerald was dramatically closer. He probably had several miles of path left before he ran out, and he wasn't going to need even one of them.

There was another set of orbs up ahead. This time, they took different directions at crazy angles. One was on the right side of the path, another way on the left, another high up on the right, a few on the ceiling… it would be tricky to move back and forth quick enough to get them all, but if he could, he was sure they would get him close enough to the Super Emerald to grab it.

He touched the first one, then arced left and touched the next one, then went right again at an uncomfortably jarring speed to reach the next one. He knew he didn't have enough speed to rotate around the entire tube again yet, which was what he needed to do to get the ones on the top. So he swerved left, then right, then left again as he ran, going higher up on the tube each time. Finally he went all the way around, managing to touch two of the three orbs on the ceiling.

It was the first orb he had missed.

The Super Emerald was right in front of him. He could touch it with his fingertip, but not quite grasp it.

Feeling impatient, Sonic touched one more orb and leapt into the air, feeling the orb's power boost him forward slightly. At the speed he was going, it would hurt if he missed and fell on the path, but he didn't miss. He clasped the Emerald tightly in both hands and cried out in triumph.

The path disappeared beneath him, as did the orbs, and he splashed back into the water of the earth.

He held his breath just in time. Under the water, he opened his eyes and watched the Super Emerald glow as he drew on trickles of its power. He knew only to use the minimum amount he would need to drift back to the shore. This power was precious and was going to have a huge purpose.

He ascended out of the water, wet fur clinging to his body, and let the gem's incredible power carry him back. The white glow of the moon couldn't even outshine the intensity of the aura surrounding him.

Espio stood before him as he landed in the dirt. "Am I meant to understand what just occurred?"

"Believe me," Sonic said calmly, a smile on his face, "I just barely understood it myself."

"Is that the last Chaos Emerald?" The chameleon asked.

"One better, Espio. One better."

For a moment, the two of them gazed at the Super Emerald in awe. Then, something much, much brighter happened above them.

A cackling beam of light flashed across the sky, lighting up the night brighter than day. Sonic followed its trajectory through squinted eyes. His heart dove into his stomach when he saw where it was going: the moon.

"What is this!" The hedgehog shouted. Espio, looking uncharacteristically alarmed, shook his head to indicate that he had no answer. "I… I don't even…"

There was nothing to be done but watch as the beam struck the moon with devastating force. Chunks of it exploded into space. Anyone watching was holding their breath. When the glow died down, they could see that half of the moon was irrevocably obliterated.

Sonic swore he could hear the frightened screams of the people trapped on Grand Metropolis far above them, outside the barrier.

That was when he realized that he should not have been able to reach the Super Emerald at all. The barrier had never been that far out in the water. In the back of his mind, he knew Tails and Shadow must have succeeded in their goal of debilitating the barrier. But in the face of what had just happened, it didn't seem to matter anymore.

"What does this mean?" Espio asked. "Could the doctor be responsible for something this colossal?"

Sonic had no answer. He had never seen this coming. There was no way Eggman could have done something like this. What could he have used to harness that kind of power? Tails and Shadow had the Chaos Emeralds, so he couldn't have used—

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I think Eggman is the one who disabled the barrier."

"The barrier is disabled?"

"Yes. I think he wanted to use the Chaos Emeralds' power for something else," Sonic said.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions," Espio told him. "Why would he want to blast the moon? There is no way this could serve him any purpose."

"It's a threat," the hedgehog said slowly. "First he struck the moon, and destroyed half of it. What do you think he'll strike next?"

They looked at each other for a long, unnerving moment. Then, before Espio could answer, Sonic grabbed his hand and ran. "We have to get to the control tower before he fires it again! We'll have to find a way to get in there, and figure out where the weapon is!"

Espio pulled his hand from Sonic's grasp, wanting to run for himself. "I don't think it's in there, Sonic. It's hard to tell where it was coming from, but it looked a great deal higher than most structures on the ground. I dare say it was in the sky."

"Hold up a sec!" Sonic said, coming to a halt and sending dirt and grass everywhere. They were in Central City, near the area where Eggman had first begun construction. It was finished now; the control tower was lit up in red, the sidewalks were made of orange, metallic-looking tiles, and the surrounding buildings had Eggman's face all over them. Some of them were likely holding prisoners. Others were probably for computer operations and whatnot. But on the exterior, the place looked like some kind of high-tech carnival. "Hear that?"

It was a voice – Eggman's voice – coming over a loudspeaker somewhere, or maybe several loudspeakers. Sonic couldn't tell where they were; he had never noticed them before. His ears perked up as he listened.

"Residents of Grand Metropolis and Eggman's Empire alike, hear me: the time has come to make some drastic changes. The demonstration you recently saw was only a portion of what the Eclipse Cannon can do. Created by my grandfather, scientist Gerald Robotnik and stationed on Space Colony ARK, the Eclipse Cannon is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. It is currently infused with the power of five Chaos Emeralds and cannot be stopped except by my hand.

"Having said all this, you, dear people, are left with two options: one, Grand Metropolis, G.U.N. headquarters, the Mystic Ruins, and Station Square will be destroyed in a single blast without evacuation. I no longer require the resources of the sky city, and the other mentioned places are either useless or detrimental to my cause. Let me elaborate: 90 percent of people listening right now will die.

"Option two: Sonic the hedgehog, Miles Prower, and any other co-conspirators must agree to surrender unconditionally by arriving at the Central City control tower in less than two hours. Then my empire will be able to flourish, and no such explosion will be necessary. All prisoners will be released during this time in an attempt to persuade these enemies to see reason. I am aware that the barrier is down, but it no longer matters. You will not be able to escape the radius of the cannon's blast in two hours' time.

"If you don't make a wise decision, Sonic, I will. And you know which option I will choose. Two hours."

Sonic and Espio were already at the control tower. When the message finished, they exchanged a wordless glance and sped away from it, to the other side of the city.

"So," Sonic began impatiently, "Option one is genocide, option two is monarchy. He should have just said it like that from the start instead of trying to justify it. 'The empire will be able to flourish.' I mean, come on. Nothing is flourishing here, and it never will."

"Do you have any ideas?" Espio asked.

"…I don't have any choice, Espio."

"You mean you're considering surrender?"

"Even if Eggman's Empire is a miserable place for people to spend their lives… I can't just let them die. Nothing is worth that. I'm trying to think of something. That's why I ran away from the tower. But right now I'm not sure what to do."

_You have a Super Emerald, _came a whispered, genderless voice. Despite its gentle tone, it always felt like an intrusion to Sonic when the Master Emerald interrupted his thoughts like that. It made his heart jump.

Sonic glanced down at the impossibly vibrant gem in his hand, a drop of water from his still-wet body landing on it and sizzling away immediately.

_Space Colony ARK is located above the control tower. Eggman has been using that tower to transfer small amounts of energy from the barrier – and thereby the five Chaos Emeralds – to the Eclipse Cannon over time. He has now transferred enough power to use it._

_ So you're saying… _Sonic thought, _I should go up there and destroy it!_

_Remember, one Super Emerald contains power equivalent to that of seven Chaos Emeralds._

Then it hit him. Eggman only had the energy of five Chaos Emeralds behind the Eclipse Cannon. "One Super Emerald alone… it can override that power!"

He looked up. A lot of people were approaching them at once.

From the right, toward the outskirts of the city, Tails was flying towards them with five Chaos Emeralds in his arms. A ways behind him, Shadow was following silently, unbeknownst to the fox, but Sonic could see him. From the left, people who had probably come from the chambers in Mystic Ruins were approaching. There were at least a few dozen of them. He had no idea how they'd found him already.

"Hey, all," he muttered, not knowing how else to start, giving the crowd a thumbs-up as they neared him. He wondered if they would try to attack him and bring him to Eggman. He hoped not, because they would fail. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to hurt the people he had been trying to save all this time.

Every one of them looked dismal, like their souls had left their body, leaving it nothing more than a walking vessel. Sonic felt terrible for them. They had been trapped for months on end, separated from their families, unable to work and support themselves, left with no purpose. He hoped his actions would give them some hope.

"Hey!" Tails exclaimed. The fox had reached him faster than he expected. Sonic whirred around to receive an armful of Chaos Emeralds. He clumsily managed to hang onto them all as Tails let go, continuing his flight without stopping for conversation.

"Tails…?" The hedgehog said, confused.

Ignoring him, he continued to fly until he reached the crowd of people, who had stopped to watch the scene unfold. They all looked uncertain now. Sonic didn't know what they had expected from him. They _knew _him, _knew _who the real hero was here, so they couldn't think he was going to just give up.

But then, they probably weren't thinking straight in the state they were in now.

He made to run towards Tails and the people, but Shadow arrived and grabbed the hedgehog's arm. He glared at him and pulled away, but stayed where he was all the same.

Sonic saw it on the Ultimate Life-form's face just as he had seen it on Tails's face as he flew past: something had happened. He held the Chaos Emeralds tighter.

"Relax, Faker. I'm not going to take them. You win."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't understand what's—"

"Hey!" They both took pause. Tails's voice didn't _pierce _like that very often. It was discomforting.

Some water droplets went flying from his spikes as Sonic turned to look. He realized that the fox was addressing the crowd of people. "I don't know what you people think you're doing here, but if any of you think you're going to get any closer to Sonic than this, you're going to have to go through me!"

Sonic was too stunned to say anything, or even breathe. He had never – _never_ – heard Tails speak to anyone that way.

"I heard the announcement, and I just want to remind you of everything Sonic has done for you over the years. I know you're all in a rough spot, but so are we, and you have no right to try and capture him, or even to try and _convince_ him to go to that tower! If you're that selfish, you don't deserve to be saved, and you never deserved Sonic's compassion in the first place!"

"We're not here for that!" A woman called out from the back of the crowd.

"Then go away! There's no reason for any of you to be here!"

"Tails!" Sonic finally shouted. The fox spun around to face him, his righteous rage fizzling out a little. They made deliberate eye contact for the first time since earlier that day. Under many circumstances, a day wasn't a great deal of time for something significant to happen. But things had changed between Sonic and Tails since the battle with the Elites.

As Sonic met Tails's eyes, it was apparent that he knew everything. He couldn't tell how the fox felt about it, but he knew.

Sonic walked toward Tails and the group of people before them. For a reason he couldn't understand, Tails's eyes seemed to brighten, and a smile full of tenderness and joy broke out on his face.

When he was within a foot of Tails, the fox touched his arm and examined the moisture on his fingers. He looked at all the Emeralds Sonic was holding, saw the one that he knew they hadn't had before. Then his gaze slowly shifted back to Sonic's face as he put the pieces together.

"I'm proud of you," he said.

Sonic shifted the five Chaos Emeralds to one arm, and held up the Super Emerald with his free hand. "Look at this, bro."

"That's not – that's not a Super Emerald, is it?" Tails looked from the Chaos Emeralds to the Super Emerald in surprise. "Whoa… but I thought…"

"I know," Sonic said with a grin, "So did I. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but it looks like fate is on our side."

"We can win!" Tails exclaimed excitedly.

"That's right." Sonic put an arm around his friend and faced the crowd. "All right, what's this all about, now?" He asked in a voice loud enough so that everyone could hear.

"He's freeing Grand Metropolis for two hours, too," a teenager in the front said. "Robots are taking them down here. Word gets around, y'know," he continued, "and from what a lot of people have been hearing, the folks up there have been… well, they're on Eggman's side now."

"So you're not here to tell me I should surrender?"

Sonic could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Everyone's shoulders seemed to drop half an inch. "Of course not!" Someone else said. "We thought you'd think that, though."

Tails was rubbing his arm, looking at the ground.

"Can you do something about this, though? Please tell me we're not gonna die." The teenager in front asked. All around him, people began to shout out questions or encouragements, and after a moment all Sonic and Tails could hear was the rumble of undistinguishable voices.

It was a great sound.

Sonic raised a hand, and the crowd slowly became silent. "You can bet I'll do something about this. Eggman is going down!"

In the midst of the glum darkness of the empire, happiness was born again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope you enjoyed. We're down to two chapters left... a super-exciting time for both writer and readers alike, hopefully! I'd like to take this opportunity to shameless-plug my next big project, **_Survivor's Resolve_**... another **Sonic fic** of course. I want it to be the **best thing I've ever written**. It'll be up on June 23... **Sonic's 20th anniversary**. See my profile for more info, and don't forget to **ADD ME TO YOUR AUTHOR ALERTS**. Hope everyone has a great day... see you next time!


	19. Ch 19: The Eclipse Cannon

CHAPTER 19: The Eclipse Cannon

Sonic could swim.

Those were three words Tails had thought would never make a sentence.

He stood proudly next to his older brother, the hedgehog's wet arm wrapped around his dry shoulders, facing the cheering crowd… and on the inside, he was cheering too.

Shadow had forced him to understand what really happened; why he was alive. With that understanding came the memory of the note he had written Sonic in his alternate life. The desires he had expressed in that note remained just as vivid in his mind as his real memories. He had always had a secret wish to see Sonic overcome his fear of water. When he had written the note, he had thought it too late for himself to ever see that wish fulfilled. But that had mattered little to him. He didn't have to _see _it, even though he wanted to, because that desire was for Sonic's sake, not his own.

Still, he had known at the time that if he expressed that desire to Sonic long enough ago, it just might have happened while he was still alive to see it. He had wished he hadn't felt timid about bringing it up.

But now that didn't matter. Sonic's entire body was wet. The Super Emerald, without a doubt, had been in the water… and Sonic had conquered his greatest fear to get it.

He wondered if Sonic understood the meaning behind the hug he suddenly gave him.

When they separated, they saw that Shadow and Espio had approached.

"Tails," Sonic began, "something happened, didn't it?"

"You were right about him," Tails said, casting a glare in Shadow's general direction. "He tried to get away with the Chaos Emeralds once the barrier was down. The only reason he stuck with us this whole time is because he wanted to make sure we didn't take down the barrier without his knowledge, and get away with the Chaos Emeralds. That's the only reason he helped you go back in time, too: you had a Chaos Emerald, and he wanted to keep an eye on it. He wanted the Emeralds all for himself."

The Ultimate Lifeform's expression was unreadable. He denied none of it, and showed no remorse for his attempted ploy.

Sonic turned to face him, the person responsible for helping him reverse Tails's fate, the person he had been through so much with in the past weeks. "I always suspected, I admit," the blue blur said with a smirk. "But… why?"

"Humanity deserves to take the full force of that cannon," Shadow said, glowering with sudden intensity. "And had Tails not intruded, I would have taken the Emeralds up there myself to put _all _of their power into that weapon. This world is the most selfish, cruel place… and all Maria wanted to do was _see _it. With all seven Emeralds, I might have had enough healing power to make things different for her…"

The tragic irony was not lost on anyone. Shadow's plan had backfired, and instead of being able to avenge Maria or bring her back, he had only enabled Sonic to bring Tails back.

"She had a fatal disease. Only the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds could have saved her."

Sonic smiled a sad smile. "Well, thanks, even though you didn't really want to help me. You know… if you ever want my help in return…?"

"Hah," Shadow laughed bitterly. "Not in a million years."

Sonic shrugged. "Or, if you just want to enjoy a race sometime…"

A small amount of the resentment in his expression faded, and for a split second, he almost smiled. Almost. "Sayonara," he said, and made to leave their company for the last time.

"Shadow?"

He stopped and, after a moment, turned around and met Sonic's eyes. "What, Sonic."

He had not said 'Faker' this time, and Sonic noticed. He reasoned it would have been inappropriate, considering what they all knew about Shadow now. Still… at least when Shadow called him Faker, there was some element of humor in his voice, even if it was sarcastic and ill-intended. Now there was no humor. Shadow truly wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

Although he would never admit it to anyone but himself, Sonic would miss him a little bit.

"Shadow… Maria sounds like a kind, caring sort of person."

The darker hedgehog glanced at Tails as Sonic spoke, again thinking how the fox was Sonic's Maria. For his part, Tails looked away and started some quiet, meaningless chatter with Espio. He knew it was Sonic's place to speak to Shadow right now, not his.

"She was," Shadow said quietly. That accusing, irritated look that was always in his eyes was still there, but only now could Sonic see the emotions it had been hiding the whole time.

"That's why you loved her, isn't it? She accepted people, born or created, and she accepted you. You two were like brother and sister, right?"

Shadow gave a single curt nod.

"Do you really think she would want you to avenge her death? From what you've told me about her, I think she would want you to help people, and be there for them, like she was for you."

"…Maria… would want…" he stammered. He appeared unable to comprehend the notion. The realization that he might have been wrong about his closest friend all along was a profoundly heavy thought. For as obvious as it now seemed in Sonic's words, it had never occurred to him. "She…"

"And she wouldn't want you to suffer like this," Sonic interrupted, voice rising with certainty. "She gave up her life for you. That is the most precious gift you can get from anybody, Shadow, so you've gotta make the most of it!" Sonic walked towards the black and red lifeform, closing off some of the distance between them. "Shadow, do a better job than I did when I lost Tails. Live in honor of her memory."

Before him was the real Shadow, as true as he had ever seen him. His eyes were suddenly shining with love and clarity and purpose… and unimaginable suffering. A tear made a trail down his cheek and dripped off. "You made the most of your life, even when it was so soon after your friend's death," Shadow whispered. "Do a better job than you? I envy your resilience and your passion. Even without him, you would have stopped the empire, and you would have lived freely and happily while still keeping his memory alive. I envy you. You… you are the ultimate life."

Both hedgehogs were silent for a long, tender minute. The emotions experienced by both seemed to speak for themselves in their facial features, electrifying the very air with their power and truth.

"…Here," Sonic finally said. "I want you to take these." Sonic handed him the five regular Chaos Emeralds.

"You… you don't need these?"

"I only need the Super Emerald," Sonic replied, pulling out the last regular Chaos Emerald from his quills and handing it to the darker one. "And you can have that when I'm done with it, too. Try to keep them away from Eggman, will you?"

"But… why are you doing this?" Shadow asked, again looking completely lost.

"Because, despite how much of a jerk I am sometimes, I actually really care about my friends." He winked. "It'll be a while before their power restores completely, of course, but… maybe you can use them."

"I… I shouldn't bring Maria back. It's been fifty years since her death; there are so many things that could go wrong if I change events that happened that long ago. She wouldn't want me to take such a dangerous risk."

"She would be pretty old now anyway, wouldn't she?"

"Yes. But at least she would have lived a full life. That's all I ever wanted for her."

"That's all she ever wanted for you, Shadow," Sonic reminded him gently.

He nodded. His red eyes were full of unbearable pain, but Sonic knew he would be okay. Now he had hope, and purpose. Maybe, the hedgehog figured, he would find some other good use for the Chaos Emeralds, if he even chose to hang onto them at all.

"I have to leave now," Shadow said. He smiled a little smile; a subtle but sincere conveyance of his appreciation for what Sonic had said.. As the blue blur watched that foreign expression cross his face, he thought to himself that it was amazing how easily a smile could shake the foundation of angst and sadness. "Thank you, Sonic."

"Thank you," Sonic said in return. He held out his right hand. "Sayonara."

After an instant of hesitation, Shadow awkwardly accepted Sonic's goodbye, shaking his hand once. Then, he turned away, and a resonating sonic boom indicated his leave.

Sonic turned back to the group. Seeing that Shadow was gone, Tails and Espio stopped pretending they weren't listening. "Anyone got the time?" The hedgehog asked.

"We have an hour and twenty minutes left!" Tails said.

"All right, guys," Sonic said. "Leave this to me!"

Sonic gazed into the Super Emerald in his hands, then gave it a gentle upward push. It rose into the air with grace and superiority. Standing there before the crowd, he spread his arms and opened himself to the gem's incredible power. Immediately he felt it rushing into his system. It lifted him from his feet, raising him above everyone else. It spun around him. He kept his mind open and willing, letting it flood him all throughout. As he realized the immensity of what was about to happen, he opened his eyes to look down at the people depending on him.

Instead, he saw Tails, two feet away from him, looking into his face. The smile gracing his features was full of gratitude, confidence, and love. "Did you think you were going up to that cannon alone?"

Sonic gazed into those brave cerulean orbs, gazed at the person who meant more than anyone to him. There was a loud crack as even more of the Super Emerald's strength burst into them. More than anything else, the Emeralds were fueled by emotion, and more than any other emotion, they were fueled by love.

Again, Sonic remembered that Tails knew everything. He could read it on his face. Knowing Tails knew him just as well, he had to believe Tails was aware of his realization.

And Tails was; he had been aware without Sonic ever even saying a word. At first, he had found himself feeling betrayed and angry at Sonic for trying to 'protect' him against the truth. But in the grand scheme of things, it meant so little. Sonic had saved his life, and his discreetness about it was insignificant by comparison. He smiled at Sonic as the vibrancy of the Super Emerald grew between them. Sonic smiled back; a mutual, unspoken agreement that everything was okay now.

Finally, Sonic broke eye contact, noticing his hands trembling with the whirlpool of energy coursing its way through him. His spikes pointed upwards, his eyes turned blood-red, and his fur looked like spun gold.

Tails's eyes changed color to a rich navy blue. His thick fur shined with the radiance of the energy within him. It was a light yellow, and impossibly bright.

The Super Emerald fell to the ground, completely drained. They had drawn out every last wisp of energy.

"Sonic… let's do this!"

They shot up into the sky, leaving a trail of light in their wake. Even as they ascended at the speed of sound, they could hear the crowd erupt in joy and hope.

"If you run out of power, you get back down to Earth!" Sonic said. "I can cause Chaos Control to teleport back down if I really need to, but you can't, so be careful!"

"You be careful too!"

"If you can feel it coming, let me know. We can share our power with each other until one of us starts to run out." The sky darkened as they exited the earth's atmosphere.

"Right. An hour and ten minutes left!"

Sonic laughed. "Heh, we could do this anytime, but I guess we might as well take care of it now, huh?"

"Sonic…!"

"Oh relax, I'm just kidding. We've got this owned."

"Wow, we're in space now! I never even considered that there's not enough oxygen up here, yet I can still breathe."

"Until you run out of power. That's why I'm telling you especially to be careful."

"Gotcha. Hey, I see it!"

Sonic looked up. They were indeed getting closer. The Eclipse Cannon was visible now, and reminded him of Eggman's face.

"Jeez. Even his _grandpa _was obsessed with himself. The Robotniks need to get some friends or something."

"No kidding," Tails said. "Or a love life. Wait, Eggman _is _Eggman's love life."

"Less talk, more action! Let's find a way in!" Sonic shot off towards the space colony.

"You're telling me…" Rolling his eyes, Tails took off after him.

Space Colony ARK was colossal, and _that _was an understatement. Tails couldn't help but be amazed at how much work it must have taken for it to come to be, never mind how quickly they were about to undo that work. It looked to have an impenetrable, metallic exterior. But being in his super form, he launched himself toward it anyway.

"Ow."

Well, now they knew.

"Tails, over here!" Sonic called. "I found the entrance!"

The fox quickly made his way to Sonic. There was a translucent capsule before them, tucked in a pocket of the space colony. They got in. Almost immediately, the semi-circular door rotated shut and they were launched into the colony.

"This facilitates things a bit," Sonic said, grinning as usual.

The machine came to a stop and let them out into a hallway. It looked high-tech, and the floor and walls were shades of light blue and grey. "Sonic, I bet Eggman has this place infested with robots and stuff."

"_That _doesn't look like any robot to me." The hedgehog pointed at a figure a little ways down the hallway. It was blue and liquid-like, and looked just a bit familiar to them both.

"It looks like Chaos!"

"Chaos? What?"

"You don't know who Chaos is? _You, _of all people?"

Feeling a little embarrassed, Sonic shrugged. "Well, everybody's _heard_ of him, but…"

"Oh man, how can I explain all this without wasting time..."

"Let's multitask!" Sonic said. "We'll destroy this place on the way to the core!" He dashed forward, destroying the strange creature.

"Okay, well…" Tails followed after him. "Chaos was the original guardian of the Master Emerald, and protector of chao. He used to _be_ a chao until he came into contact with Chaos energy, and it mutated him." Tails paused to kick a robot's head off. It wasn't really necessary; in this state he could have just tapped it and it probably would have exploded. "It's said that he _is_ liquefied Chaos energy because of it. Anyway, because of a war that broke out, a bunch of his chao got killed and he avenged them by killing off most of the echidnas, since they were responsible. That's why only Knuckles is left."

Sonic plowed through several more of the artificial Chaos-creatures. He wondered if someone in the research facility had been trying to replicate this _real _Chaos creature Tails was talking about. "So what of him, then?"

They rounded a few corners, following signs on the wall to get to the core, taking out everything in sight as they went, talking in between. It might have been a challenge if they weren't in their Super forms, but as it was, they might as well have been taking a stroll. This was _way _too easy…

"Tikal, one of the few remaining echidnas and probably an ancestor of Knuckles, managed to seal him and herself inside the Master Emerald so that he would be unable to cause destruction anymore.

"To this day, it's said their spirits are still there, immortalized within the gem."

"So… the voice?"

"Yes."

_Yes._

Sonic and Tails both jumped, then laughed.

Then a laser beam struck the fox in the ribs, knocking him into the wall.

Sonic cried out with him, because he felt the sensation too. No laser had made contact with him, though. He wondered if they were somehow linked because they had shared one Emerald. Normally, when they transformed together, it was with all seven Chaos Emeralds, or at least a few Super Emeralds. Never just one. He supposed that the Emerald being forced to divide its power into two portions had something to do with the link. Under most other circumstances, one person probably received the power of four Chaos Emeralds while the other received the power of three, so there was no need for division and therefore no intrinsic connection.

"Tails!" Sonic halted and leaned down. "Are you okay, buddy?"

There was a dark burn where he had been hit. Even as Sonic watched, it began to disappear, the fox's Super form healing it easily. "Yeah, I think so," he muttered with a wince. "Didn't see that coming."

"I knew this seemed a lit—UGH!"

Tails had pushed Sonic backwards, then dove backwards himself. Another white-hot beam blasted between them, just barely missing Tails's hand. "We gotta get away from this area, Sonic!"

"Hard to argue."

They flew quickly through the air. At the end of the hallway was a red tunnel. They dove down it as lasers smacked into the walls behind them.

Sonic was just a little ways ahead of Tails, and exited the tunnel first. As he did, four rubbery blue tendrils reached out and wrapped themselves around him. There was an artificial-Chaos on each side of him. He wriggled and squirmed, trying to escape their grasp, but it was like a snake constricting around his entire body. They were alarmingly strong, their squeeze making it difficult to draw breath.

"Tails!" He managed. "Use your name, will you?"

The fox came in at a sideways angle, his two rear appendages spinning fast, and sliced off two of the tendrils in one go. It was enough for Sonic to pull himself free. He destroyed the other creature and then they both surveyed the area before them.

There was machinery visible below the semi-transparent floor. All around them, ancient symbols were lit up, giving the place a threatening but intriguing glow. The walls were mostly brown, but there were off-white pillars everywhere. The ceiling was high, like a dome. The room looked ancient and technological at once; two eras of time colliding in one epic place.

"Look, there's another Chaos thingy!" Sonic said. The thingy in question was floating, and its elastic blue body looked kind of like a bubble. Tails made to attack it, but as soon as he moved forward, it began releasing strange, bug-like creatures, though they were significantly larger than any normal insect.

Sonic was about to make an unnecessary comment about the negative consequences of having too many babies, but something on the wall to the far left caught his eyes.

A chaos creature had moved; that was what had attracted his vision. But as he looked, his heart dropped into his stomach. The creatures were lined up on the walls, all the way around the perimeter of the enormous room.

As if they were one, all of them began to move inward.

"Forty minutes! Sonic, we can't waste time destroying things that are going to die in the explosion anyway. We have to find out where to go!"

"I know, bro. Let's destroy as few as we have to and get past them."

"We won't be able to get past them! You were just going at hundreds of miles per hour, and just two of them managed to get you tangled up. Let me distract them, then you can go around and try to find the rest of the path. You're faster than me, so it should be you."

"Good thinking, but let's see if we can't take them on first. Let me know when we're at twenty minutes."

Tails turned around and pressed his back to Sonic's. They began rotating, surveying their odds, preparing for battle. He guessed there were no less than a hundred of the creatures. They were completely surrounded, save for the tunnel through which they'd come. Sonic made note of that. If they decided they needed to make a plan or something, they could escape briefly.

"Go for the ones on the sidelines first. That way we only have enemies on one side of us."

"Yup." They separated and went in opposite directions, avoiding the bug-like enemies on the ground. It wasn't that it was hard in itself to destroy the Chaos-creatures; they were in their Super forms after all. It was that when there were so many long, tendril-like arms flying everywhere, it was hard to even get close enough _to_ attack.

With his fast reflexes, Sonic managed to avoid several sets of tendrils lashing out at him and destroy several of the creatures. It was only a dent in the total amount, but it was a good start. He tried spin dashing at the bottoms of the creatures, but only bounced off their rubbery, wet surface. "The machines that let them function are on their heads," Tails called, pointing at the obvious devices.

"Thanks," he muttered.

As if to demonstrate, Tails grasped two of the arms coming at him and let them pull him towards the head of the creature. He stuck his feet out at the last second, slamming them through. The blue matter collapsed into a puddle.

From his right side, another creature launched its arms at Tails, wrapping them around his still-extended feet. It slammed him to the ground with cruel force. The fox cried out in surprise and pain. Sonic, who had impatiently curled up in a ball and was now bouncing from creature to creature, didn't hear him.

Panicking, Tails threw himself over on his front and tried to drag himself away by his hands. The creature was pulling him towards it. What would happen if he couldn't get out by the time he got there? He didn't want to think about it. He screamed again, kicking his feet, but it was useless. He clawed at the flat ground. He looked for anything to grab onto. Something inside was screaming, "_SONIC!_" But he pushed it back. If they wanted to succeed in this, Sonic had to know he could fight for himself.

Another Chaos-creature over on Sonic's side of the room stretched out its aqua tendrils, aiming for Tails's hands. At the last second, the fox realized he could use it to his advantage. He caught the tendril before it could tie him up in it and gripped it as hard as he possibly could. It withdrew the limb reflexively, taking Tails with it. He felt his feet slip out of the other creature's grasp. At the zenith of the ride, Tails let go of the tendril, letting its momentum send him flying.

He stayed in the air with his Super form and kept going forward. He could see an open door on the other side of the room… if he could only get over the sea of creatures…

"Tails, move!"

Tails flinched to his left quickly. A tendril shot straight up where he had just been. How could those things reach so high? There was no way to get past them!

On the ground, Sonic was having only a little more success than his friend. There were so many of the whacked-out science experiments that their progress so far wasn't even noticeable.

Hearing a creature behind him, Sonic whirred around. One of its appendages was already on its way to him as he turned, and made hard contact with his stomach as he finished his pivot. The impact sent him flying and literally knocked the breath out of him. He landed on the hard ground and slid right in between a group of the creatures. They reacted immediately, each wrapping their disgusting arms around a limb. Another arm tried to surround his neck, but he reflexively jerked away. It smacked him in the stomach again. He dry-heaved. He couldn't even gather enough breath to call Tails's name.

The creatures roughly flipped Sonic over on his front. He tucked his chin close to his chest to avoid being choked in case they went for that tactic again. His heart was pounding; one never truly got used to the threat of injury.

Thankfully, it never came. The five creatures surrounding him exploded in quick succession, and suddenly he was covered in a gooey mess.

"Sonic, you gotta use their long tendrils to your advantage! I think I'm getting the hang of it. We're down to nineteen minutes. Go to the core and destroy this thing; I can handle this!"

"What if destroying it causes an explosion? There'll be no way for you to know."

"That's why we're in our Super forms, isn't it?"

Sonic raised a finger to argue, but realized the fox had a point. He was about to let his arm drop when a tendril wrapped around it, lifted him off the ground, and thrust him into the nearest wall.

Tails caught him as he fell. "Thanks," he mumbled, his vision swimming. "Man, it's easy to defeat almost anything in your Super form… if you can get to it."

"Eighteen minutes, and that's if Eggman hasn't realized something's going on already. We need to do something!"

"No worries. We'll win this!"

"Time for Plan B?"

"Yeah. Let's do it."

They both hovered above the ground in the back left corner of the room. The experiments sloshed toward them, leaving a space between themselves and the opposite wall. That was Sonic's escape, as long as Tails could keep the tendrils at bay.

"I'll stay in front of you as we head for the gap," Tails said. "And when they reach for us, I'll keep them from getting you, so you can get to the exit. Go as fast as you can!"

"Not a problem for me!"

They executed the move. As soon as the creatures caught onto what they were doing, tons of arms launched out toward the gap, but half of them got detached by the fox's tails on the way, a few weren't close enough to be a threat, and Tails caught the remaining ones in his hands. Sonic was already through the gap and out of the room.

The halls in the next area of the Space Colony were dark and plain, like the power hadn't been on for years. It appeared to Sonic that it was actually the part of the colony that was meant for research. He could feel himself getting closer.

Now that he wasn't so focused on battle, Sonic actually began to notice brief bouts of pain from his connection with Tails. He wondered if the consequences of the connection applied to the fox as well, then reasoned that if it did, he was probably too caught up in the battle to notice or care. Sonic hadn't been very aware of it before either, in the midst of the adrenaline rush. Now, ironically, it was reassuring. Every feeling of tightness or discomfort let him know that his best friend had absorbed a hit in his Super form, and therefore, was still strong and safe. He easily tuned out the invisible pain, not allowing it to be detrimental to him.

A dozen or so security robots dropped off the ceiling and landed in front of him. He darted forward through the air and destroyed them all in the same second. "Strike," he muttered with a smirk. He continued on at high speeds, going as fast as he could go without fear of missing something. He glanced up at the ceiling after turning, wondering if there were any more bots waiting for him.

That was when he saw it.

Running down the center of the ceiling was a pencil-thin tube of what looked like blue-green plasma. Sonic knew better. It was the Chaos energy Eggman had transferred from the barrier. Sonic glided upside down, following the obvious path it was setting for him, destroying more robots along the way.

He had expected that seeing the transfer tube meant he was close, but several minutes later, he found himself still travelling through the maze-like hallways, turning at some junctions and going straight at others. He was going as fast as he could without losing track of the path.

Finally, he came to a spot where the tube of energy appeared to stop. Upon getting closer to it, letting his glow light the area, he saw that it didn't actually end, it just curved up into the ceiling, beyond view.

He wondered where the path picked up again, trying not to think about how many minutes they had left. It couldn't be very many. He looked around, trying to spot the tiny pipe anywhere else. Instead, he found a door to his left that he almost missed because of the darkness. He opened it and walked in.

Above him, to his great relief, the path continued and let out into a huge vat near a control panel. On the panel, there were seven spaces for the Chaos Emeralds, but obviously none of them were there since Eggman had executed his plan differently.

The Eclipse Cannon was only a machine. He knew that if he touched that Chaos-sensitive part of the control panel while the Super Emerald's power was still flowing through him, it would overwork itself and ultimately malfunction.

As he glanced again at the vat of pure Chaos energy, he realized that once he acted, the whole space colony would likely be caught in the explosion. Right now, the Chaos energy was dormant. But even if the inevitable explosion would normally have been confined to the room, the vast amount of energy surrounding it would take it out of proportion.

He didn't need to be a genius like Tails to know that Space Colony ARK was in its last moments of existence.

At the thought of his fox friend, Sonic realized with a start that he was not receiving any sensations from their connection. His heart plummeted with panic. _Tails_? He said in his mind, wondering if the connection allowed communication. There was no response so he assumed the negative.

And he waited.

A precious minute went by. He felt nothing.

With a sudden flutter of relief, he realized the fox must have beaten the odds and was somewhere in the halls of the research facility now. Either that or he had retreated. That was why he could not feel their connection anymore; Tails was no longer under attack. Sonic whirred around, shiny spikes swinging, and made to go collect his friend. He got about three feet before the voice he was so familiar with stopped him in his flight.

_You must act._

"I know, I'm just going to go grab Tails first. If we both use our powers on this thing, it'll be more effective, right?"

_You have adequate power to destroy Space Colony ARK._ _Tails does not. He has expended too much energy fighting and enduring strikes. He was unable to sustain his advanced form._

"What!" Sonic's eyes widened. "I knew this would happen. I'm going to get him. I'll be super fast, you know that."

_There is not enough time. You have only three minutes. Even at top speed, you will not be able to make it to the fox and back to this room before the Eclipse Cannon is fired._

Sonic was rendered speechless as the implications hit him like a brick. If he destroyed the space colony, Tails would be killed in the blast.

_It is true that if you turn back, you will be able to help your friend. But it would be at the cost of millions of lives. By the time you are able to reach him, time will have run out and the weapon will have fired. The doctor has it timed and it will launch in exactly 117 seconds._

Sonic thought fast. "Okay," he said with determination, "there's got to be a way to confine the explosion to the Eclipse Cannon instead of letting it destroy the whole space colony. Maybe I can release just enough power into it to…"

_This room is surrounded by active Chaos energy. The tubing on the ceiling travels throughout almost all regions of Space Colony ARK. It is unlikely that you will be able to reduce the radius to which your attack will spread._

"Is there any way I'm not thinking of!"

_There is not. You must choose._

"No. I'm not giving up. There has to be a way! Can I transfer some of my power to him through our link, so he'll be able to withstand the blast?"

_The link was destroyed when he was unable to retain Super form. _

Alarms went off. The room began to flash red in warning.

"Wait, wait!" Sonic spoke quickly, almost feeling the seconds disappear. Time was slipping through his fingers. "The barrier was destroyed, which means there's nothing preventing me from using your power, right? I mean, I know your power is low since you deposited a lot into the Super Emerald, but if we can cause Chaos Control and freeze time, I can go back and get him out of the explosion range!"

_As you can no doubt tell, the Super Emerald is running out of energy. I can indeed help you cause Chaos Control. But I am also certain that if you do this, there will not be enough energy left in myself or the Emerald for you to sustain your Super form and destroy the Eclipse Cannon._

Sonic went silent. Was Shadow right when they first met? Should time not be tampered with? Was fate… fixing itself?

_The choice is yours, only yours. But do not hesitate for long. One minute from now, it will be too late. Your action or lack thereof will shape the world for centuries to come._

He knew what Tails would tell him to do… and it was the same as he would have Tails do if the situation were reversed.

"EGGMAN!" He shouted in rage. "I'll never forgive you for this!"

He faced the control panel, but didn't go a step closer to it. He wanted to save Tails above all else. Sharp irony stabbed him like a knife: Shadow was right all along. He had wanted his friend back. He didn't want to be alone everywhere he went because no one else could keep up with him. He couldn't even fathom an adventure without Tails. He couldn't imagine finding another little bro as nerdy and brave and caring. Tails was irreplaceable.

"What he said about my resolve to save Tails… he was right," Sonic confessed aloud to the conscience of the Master Emerald, as if speaking the words would better deliver the message of desperation. "I can't… make this choice…"


	20. Ch 20: Hold Onto What If

Has FFN been quieter lately? I'm not seeing as many reviews as usual, and I'm talking about on _everyone's _stories, not just mine. Peculiar.

Anyway… this is the final chapter of The Dark Side of the Moon, and the final chapter of the Undestined Future series. It would be a sad day for me… that is, if I didn't already have something huge in the works to move on to. That, folks, is _Survivor's Resolve_ – so I hope that after this story concludes, you'll add me to your _author alerts _to get notified when it's posted! I plan on improving everything about my writing in that story, from actions scenes to characterization. Yes, characterization. After playing through several Sonic games recently, I realized that there are some things I've gotten wrong about the characters… SR will fix that. ;) But I digress.

Thank you to EVERYONE who read and/or reviewed, you are all appreciated SO much. I have read every review ever given to me and have tried to take suggestions to heart, and accept praise when given. Thanks again to everyone, and I hope you are more than content with the ending!

xxx

CHAPTER 20: Hold Onto What If

_Can you feel your life_

_Tangle you up inside?_

_Now you're face down on the floor…_

_But you can't save your sorrow;_

_You've paid in trade._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonic's perspective.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was no hero. I never had been, and as far as I was concerned, never would be. I fought for my own beliefs, just like everyone else. I simply did what I felt I had to do. The only thing that set me apart from any other person was that my physical capabilities enabled me to excel in _acting_ on those beliefs.

Selfishness was a part of my mental repertoire, just like everyone else.

I felt sick with the shock of the truth. Either millions of innocent people were going to die, or Tails was going to die.

Tails wouldn't want so many people to die on his behalf. He wouldn't want Eggman to win. And equally important: neither did I.

The control panel was before me. I had approached it slowly. It was now only six inches from my fingertips.

I was about to undo everything I had fought for over so many months. Tails's fate would be exactly as it was before, only this time I was killing him directly.

My eyes closed. I couldn't do it.

_Ten seconds._

I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my best friend; my brother. I couldn't condemn him to death like that. He was supposed to live. I just couldn't do it.

But even so, I watched my hand reach for the control panel. It was like watching someone else do it. I was so numb that I swore I couldn't even feel the smooth surface beneath my finger as I pressed down on the button.

When nothing happened immediately, I withdrew and thrust my whole body into the panel with a loud cry, obliterating it. It was then or never. I only had a second to take in the thousands of metallic pieces scattering across the floor. Then my vision was taken over by the ensuing blast of Chaos energy. I steeled myself, knowing this was going to hurt, in spite of my Super form.

There was surprisingly less debris than I had expected. The world around me went white and white-hot. I cried out in unanticipated agony, and for a several seconds it made me forget the horrendous significance of what I had just done. It took me over completely, and I knew the pain was caused not by the explosion itself, but by the incredible amount of active Chaos energy being released at once. I had used seven Super Emeralds to activate my Hyper form before, though; I had pretty much mastered Chaos energy. I used that knowledge now to guide myself through the burning pain, working with it instead of against it, drifting along the Chaotic flow I was so familiar with.

But it was lasting a little _too_ long, for some reason. The Eclipse Cannon had only been infused with the power of five regular Chaos Emeralds. That was a great deal of energy, but there was no way it should have been causing the lengthy sensations I was experiencing.

I had initiated the release of the Chaos energy; I was the controller. I was supposed to be aware of everything I caused, because I was the one _causing _it. But I wasn't. There was another force at work here. This was lasting way too long.

Suddenly, ground existed beneath my feet, but I could tell by the feel of it that it was not part of the regular world. It too had Chaotic properties. I fell to my knees, the tornado of energy around me becoming too much to handle.

_Something I did not anticipate is beginning to happen to me. _The Master Emerald's words were distant, like it hadn't spoken to me, but just spoke aloud to the air. I was about to question this when I was addressed directly. _Sonic… can you hear me?_

_Yes, _I thought back. A wave of disappointment washed over me. I had thought Tails had somehow affected Chaos Control. It would have explained why things were going awry, and would have let me know he was somehow still alive. That hope died as the Master Emerald spoke, because if Tails was still alive, its conscience would have known.

_Sonic the hedgehog… the attack has succeeded. You are truly selfless. Not many beings have that kind of strength._

_I don't either._ Despair seemed to swallow me whole. _I… would never do that again. Never._

_ You do not have to. What's happened has happened._

_ …Tails deserved to live. He deserved to live._

_ He would have approved of your sacrifice. _Both of our minds went silent, because there was just nothing else to say or think. It was over. It was just… over.

It felt like there was fire coursing through my veins instead of blood, burning me from the inside out. My clenched hands met the ground as I groaned in misery. The pain was comparable to using all seven Super Emeralds to transform. Where was this power coming from? This overwhelming amount of energy was impossible. It just didn't make sense. There was no way…!

_What is happening…_

I could barely get a hold of my thoughts. I had a feeling the frightening mystery of this situation was making the pain seem somewhat worse than it actually was. _Didn't I drain your power?_ I thought._ What is this?_

_ As a matter of fact… I am finding that the opposite is true. Yes, the opposite._

_ What… what are you talking about? _A yelp escaped my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to escape into the darkness behind my eyelids. I didn't know what to do.

_Benevolence… is the strongest influencer of Chaos energy, as you know. It is stronger than any type of evil, or any other emotion. And what you did for the world was the ultimate act of sacrifice and compassion. My power… is ascending to astounding levels…_

_ You mean… I'm somehow causing this?_ The infinite atmosphere around me increased in temperature. _I've never felt anything like this. Am I about to spontaneously combust or something?_

_ Humor in the face of such difficulty is admirable._

_ I'm not being entirely humorous, here!_

The genderless voice became soft and soothing. _Relax, Sonic. You know my power will not harm you. Take control of it like you always have._

And I did. It became easier, knowing that this pain was not dangerous. I rose to my feet and spread my arms, welcoming the powerful energy, allowing it to saturate my system. Now pleasure joined the discomfort, creating a mix that reminded me of a shower that was slightly too hot: it hurt enough to make your toes curl a little, but somehow still felt relaxing.

Except it was on an astronomically larger scale, in terms of both pain and pleasure.

"Will you tell me what's happening?" I asked, now trusting myself to speak.

_It can explain itself better than my words can. All that needs to be said is that you should brace your mind along with your body. This is the final struggle you must face._

I approached the next statement bluntly. "I'm in no shape to take anymore in either respect. My brother is gone. I still kind of feel like I'm on fire. I can't."

_I have come to know you better than to take those words seriously._

I closed my eyes again. I hadn't been joking, but I knew those words were a little dramatized. I could do whatever it was I had to do, I just didn't really want to. Reality had taken its toll. Tails was gone. I was feeling more unmotivated than I ever had in my life.

I worked the Chaos energy the way my instincts told me to. The lava in my veins got hotter. The area began to spin. My eyes were closed, but I could feel the sensation all the same. I felt vaguely nervous, but most of my mind was numbed by the circumstances… numbed by pain, physical and mental.

I was overcome by a wave of nausea. There were too many things occurring within me at once. It needed to stop. Everything I had accomplished with Chaos energy before seemed irrelevant now. My body was not built to handle this kind of power.

Then there was cool oxygen in my lungs. I gasped it in like I had been holding my breath for my whole life. I realized that in the midst of the sensory overload, I had forgotten to breathe intermittently. But even if I hadn't, I think the sudden comfort I experienced would have made me pull in that sweet relief anyway.

When I opened my eyes, the ceiling of Tails's living room was above me.

My stark confusion at the environment around me seemed to disable any physical movement. I laid there in a cool sweat, one arm on my stomach and the other hanging off the sofa, staring straight up. There was a sheet over my body, and it was stiff, as if I had covered myself with it very recently. My vision swam as I recovered from the intensity that had been my life for the past several minutes. I felt more disoriented than I could ever remember feeling before.

I was neither tense nor relaxed, hot nor cold – and if I was, I didn't realize it. My mind was somewhere far away from my body, trying to figure out what in the world had just happened.

The silence was so absolute that I wasn't sure something hadn't happened to my hearing. When the Master Emerald finally communicated with me several long minutes later, it made me jump.

_You have not gone back in time._

I contemplated this. _Then… it was a dream? Or is _this _the dream? Am I dreaming right now? Did I pass out during the explosion or something?_

_ The answer to all of your questions is no. You are not dreaming, and you have not gone back in time. Rather, time itself has moved back… permanently. Those events never happened and never will happen, and will be impossible to teleport to using Chaos Control or any other method. The very fabric of the universe was reset in that flash of light._

_ So the burning sensation…_ I trailed off, not even knowing how to frame my next question.

_It was no less real than anything else you've experienced. What you felt was the most powerful form of Chaos Control._

For the first time, I let my gaze wander around the room. The time of night, the fact that I was on the couch, the debris on the floor, and hundreds of other little factors let me know exactly where – and _when _– I was.

It was the night Tails and I had defeated Zorro.

_So… so… why did you bring us back?_ I felt something growing within me, but it was nothing like the energy I had felt before. It was something far less physical, yet just as powerful. It was hope. If things really were as they seemed…

_My power needed an outlet, _the voice replied. _I had very few options: drastic manipulation of time or space, or releasing my energy into the Emeralds, which would have made them Super Emeralds again. The latter option would have helped no one, while the former option would give you a chance to have life as you knew it returned to you._

I did not respond for well over a minute. My mind absorbed the information, and I went through every loophole I could think of before convincing myself I believed it. Then, full of infinite emotions I was sure were audible in my voice, I uttered two words. "Thank you."

_I cannot accept your gratitude._

_ …What do you mean?_

_ You have only yourself to thank for this. If it were not for your choice, this would never have been possible. It was the power your selflessness and love that granted me the power that was needed to accomplish this._

I couldn't wrap my mind around the enormity of what was being said to me. _I'm… I'm the reason?_

_ Because of you, the world is safe. Innocent people like that young boy Zorro harmed are safe. Because of you, Miles Prower can continue to live. Sonic. Think of every memory you have. Everything you have done, every person you have talked to. Think of all the joy and all the pain. Think of the strongest emotions you have ever felt. Think of every moment of pride. Think of all the places you have been to. _Images, people, and feelings popped into my head automatically with each instance she listed. _And now, because of your choice, savor the knowledge that millions of people – one of them being your young brother – can now continue to exist with just as many memories and experiences._

The genderless voice was infused with a kind of passion, and for the first time, I truly believed the story of Tikal and Chaos. It was their spirits that had guided me throughout this entire journey, not just because I was a user of the Chaos Emeralds, but because they were fighting for the same cause I had been fighting for all along.

_Remember, I and the Chaos Emeralds function on the most powerful emotions and motives. Yours were more powerful than anything I've ever seen._

Under normal circumstances, I might have responded with some wit. But these were not normal circumstances. I inhaled a breath and let it out again. It was a mixture of relief and disbelief. I couldn't speak.

_However… _the spirits began, and I sensed something reluctant in their tone. _Even though time has been reset, the memories of your struggles will always remain just as vivid as they are now._

_ I am… not following you, _I thought.

_ These experiences were erased from the fabric of time, save for your own mind. Removal of memories is not within my power. And since those memories are technically nonexistent, no time can pass in between. Therefore, they will never become any more distant to you; they are frozen. Should you happen to recall them, these memories, including the painful ones, will flood back to you as if they just happened. Your fights against the poison as it attempted to kill you; the torment of learning how to swim; being trapped in the chamber not too long ago; and Tails's death…_

_ They're not painful._

_ These frozen memories do not bother you?_

_ No, _I thought, _I don't think so! You want to know what does bother me, though?_

_ What might that be?_

_ The fact that Zorro is still alive and I'm laying here doing nothing! It's time to get Tails up and grab that Super Emerald that was lying outside and finish this!_

My muscles ached from all the exertion as I rose from the sofa, but I didn't care. Unbelievably, impossibly, everything was okay now. Tails was alive, millions of people had been saved, and I knew exactly what to do now to prevent the future from repeating itself.

As I walked down the hallway to Tails's bedroom, I mused that the future was not destined, nor had it ever been; life was not supposed to be one certain way, it just was what it was. Tails was not 'supposed' to be dead, nor was he 'supposed' to be alive. None of us were. We all just had to make the best of this free life, no matter what. I grinned; it would not be hard to make the best of the life I was living right now.

I leaned against Tails's doorframe for a long time, arms folded, smiling as I watched his chest rise and fall with his even breaths. My eyesight became slightly blurry, and I had to blink to clear the moisture that had suddenly formed there. He had the blanket tucked underneath him on both sides, and a small fan on the other side of the room was blowing his bangs around. He was oblivious to it, just as he was oblivious to me standing there, taking him in.

I didn't want him to be oblivious anymore.

"Tails…" I whispered softly, approaching his bed. I set a hand on his shoulder and gave him the gentlest shake. He roused, opening his eyes halfway, and moaned tiredly. "Tails. The Master Emerald… um, kind of spoke to me in my sleep," I improvised. "It sounds like Zorro survived the fall in the Dome Base. We need to deliver that final blow."

"…What?" Tails said, lazily pushing himself to a sitting position. I let the sound of his voice sink in. The dictionary did not have words significant enough to fully describe the happiness I felt. "Sonic… Zorro's not… but I thought we…"

"Me too," I said quietly. "He won't be strong, though. It'll be like tearing apart a sheet of paper, but I still figured you would want to come." I smiled at him. My heart swelled as he almost smiled back, but then his expression was interrupted by a frantic thought.

"Sonic!" He exclaimed, fully awake all of a sudden. "The wound…"

"What w—" I cut myself off, quickly remembering what wound. Zorro had just stabbed me a few hours ago. I glanced down at my chest. There was no remnant of the brutal murder attempt; not even a scar. But I'd known that already. The Emeralds had healed me. "It's fine," I assured him. "Gone for good."

As we walked outside, there was not a cloud in the sky; only the glowing moon and stars. Just like before. No pollution hindered the view, and the moon was visibly whole and circular.

"Man," Tails said, "we're lucky we have the Master Emerald. I don't even want to know where we'd be if it hadn't been helping us all this time. I mean, if we didn't know Zorro was coming for us right now…"

I didn't speak, just smiled in spite of myself.

"Hey Sonic – Sonic? Why'd you stop?"

I had barely registered the fact that I had stopped, but as I absorbed Tails's words, it hit me that I had indeed come to a sudden halt. My eyes were locked on the moon. It was a half moon, but the night was so clear I could see the shadowed half, as well.

As the Master Emerald had warned me, the memories of what had happened were vivid. They didn't bother me much – but they were there, all right. Now, I was remembering how Tails's death had nearly affected me enough to make me want to desert the world in its time of need. I remembered how close I had come to choosing Tails first; to making the selfish decision. I had never seen selfishness as a horrendous thing, as long as it wasn't at the expense of other people. You had to be good to yourself. But if I had done what I wanted to do, so many lives would have been ended, and I would never have known that things could have turned out so wonderfully like they had.

I remembered how, after I met Shadow, I had focused only on trying to bring Tails back and nothing else. I remembered the uncharacteristic sadness that always seemed to linger, even when I thought I was okay. I remembered never feeling quite as optimistic, quite as playful, quite as ready. And it was like it had all just happened.

Everyone had a dark side, but as Shadow had said, some people were just better at containing it than others. I had seen my own dark side, just as clearly as I could see the dark side of the moon.

But in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter anymore. I felt just as confident and resolute as I always had, and my life was just as fun as it had always been. I had learned a few not-so-great things about myself, but that didn't mean I had to focus on them. I had already taken from those experiences what I would, and now it was time to move forward.

"Sonic?" Tails repeated again, and I realized I had zoned. It was becoming apparent that it would take some focus to get used to those prominent and entrancing memories; they were going to stick around for a while. "Everything cool?"

I just nodded and grinned. My answer would only confuse him pointlessly. "You know, the Master Emerald's in my head again." I gestured with my head in the direction we had been going, indicating that we could continue on now.

"Ah, right," he said, and I saw his eyes light up as the realization dawned on his face, replacing the concern that had been there. "Okay. Just looked like you were daydreaming, or something."

The rich green grass rustled beneath our feet as we went. It was nice to be in a world saturated with life and color again. In Eggman's Empire, I had never fully realized how bad it had gotten, because it was such a slow deterioration. Seeing how beautiful the world before me was really put things into perspective. Station Square was undoubtedly still a wreck, since Zorro had destroyed it, but it would be rebuilt over time. They were far from losing hope.

I hesitated for a few minutes, wondering if I should say what was really on my mind. I decided to start with a question that wasn't too revealing. "Tails… would you believe anything I told you?"

He hesitated too. "Well, if you told me there was a dog flying in the sky, I would probably take it with a grain of salt."

"You're not too far from a flying dog yourself."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Touché." He shrugged. I chuckled. After the moment passed, I continued on.

"I mean, if I was serious, though. Even if it was that weird."

Tails met my eyes. I wanted to embrace him tightly, go back to the workshop, and tell him everything over some chili dogs and potato chips. It wasn't that simple, but I had already decided I was going to tell him anyway. "Well…yeah!" He replied, smiling earnestly. It made me smile, too. "Not much is too weird for this world. And I _do _trust you, so… yeah."

"Well, you don't have to hold yourself to that, but…" I paused, realizing the reality of the offer I was about to make to him. Tails never had to know about this. Life could go on as it normally would. But I had already attempted to hide his death from him once, in an alternate life he didn't even know about yet. Though he would never find out on his own like he had then, I felt like he was old enough to understand, and he deserved to know. "I have an interesting story to tell you tonight. After we defeat Zorro, I mean."

"Yeah? It's late right now, you know, and with everything that happened earlier…" Tails trailed off, and there was concern seeping into his expression. I held his gaze for a moment, reading the care in his eyes and knowing it was for me, and wondered what his reaction would be when I told him that that same care had driven him to forfeit his life for me. "Wouldn't you rather wait until morning? I mean, _I'm _pretty awake, and you got me kind of excited to hear this story of yours. But after you got stabbed and all…"

The answer to Tails's question required no thought at all. "No. After all we've been through, it's hard to tell if we'll both even be here in the morning." _We weren't last time, that's for sure,_ I said in my head, remembering waking up poisoned in Grand Metropolis because of the way events had played out that time around. "And if we are, something'll come up and I'll change my mind about telling you this before I have a chance to tell you again. So… no." I grinned at him.

"Hehe, that was kind of cheesy, even for you."

"What?"

"You know, how you said you never know if you'll be here in the morning."

"Well, let's just say I know from experience," I said, giving him a thumbs-up. _And so do you._ "Besides, I already know we'll be too occupied tomorrow to have time for stories."

"Yeah?" He asked curiously, cheerfully.

"Yeah. There's something I want to try at Emerald Coast." I got a little nervous at the thought of it, but I knew I'd be okay.

"Emerald Coast?" He looked amused, and a tad skeptical. "At the beach?"

"That's right," I said confidently, looking on ahead.

Tails just gave me a sidelong glance and kept walking.

Xxx

Sincerely, thank you to everyone. Please review! If you'll miss this series like I will, add me to your author alerts… I'll be back with Survivor's Resolve on June 23, Sonic's 20th anniversary!

Sayonara… for now.


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